Zootopia - Savage
by peterheat
Summary: A fanfic based off the original concept of Zootopia, with the shock collars and Nick as the main character. Contains spoilers from the actual movie since some scenes are based off of it. This is my first story that is multi-chapter.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a fan made story that is based off of Zootopia's original concept. When the movie was first being made, it was much darker and some characters were in different positions or ignored altogether. I personally found the original story interesting, but because of how dark it was, it was understandable if the story was changed to what we have now.**

 **I don't think it's perfect, I'm not that super great of a writer, but I am impressed with how much I went through this story, normally I write short one shots, so this is a big jump. I hope you enjoy the story.**

 **Keep in mind that as I wrote this, the original script has never been seen, most of the story is based off of the concept art. Some scenes are from the actual movie, but altered.**

 **There are spoilers from the actual movie itself, just so you know.**

 **The usual disclaimer: Zootopia belongs to Disney**

* * *

 _Zootopia, where anybody can be anything._

 _Yeah right._

...

Thoughts raced through Nick's head as he leaned against the glass containing him in the prison cell. Nick expected himself to be there someday, but he never realized he would be thrown in for a crime he didn't commit. Falsely imprisoned was the worst thing to have happen to him, and what made the whole imprisoned even worse is that he didn't know why that out of every animal in Zootopia, the police targeted him.

Couple days earlier...

The alarm clock next to Nick's bed went off, and Nick went to turn it off, but found that it wasn't on his stand. He got up, and looked around his room, shoving his belongings as he searched, "Geez, where is it?" Nick groaned to himself with the buzzing really irritating his ears now. He finally found it and clicked it off, putting it back on his stand, and went to his closet, trying to get an outfit ready. He looked in his closet, all his shirts were button-ups and all his pants were khakis. He took a random shirt and put his only bluish black coat on him, and threw on his khakis.

He looks in his mirror, and seemed pretty presentable, though he was feeling very uncomfortable for himself, but thought nothing of it. He started finishing up to head out for his appointment and then work. Honey came out her bunker, which is under the sink's cabinet, surprising Nick, "I'VE GOT IT NICK, YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT!" She yelled as Nick covered his ears.

Honey was Nick's roommate, and the story on how they met required a bit of long backstory, she was wearing her usual outfit, which she didn't often change, which were brown pants and a camo styled tank top. Since she just came out of her bunker, she had a lot of mining equipment on her, covered in stickers of what she called the 'sheep uprising'. Nick was used to the honey badger's conspiracy ideas, not the yelling or lifestyle though, but she gave him a home and food, so he bother to complain.

To be quite frank, though, the theories sounded interesting to him too, but he didn't think they held a grain of truth.

"Look Honey, I got to go, I can't be late today." Nick said in his calm voice, trying to get Honey to listen.

Fortunately, she was just slightly obsessed, not crazy, as she listens to Nick, calming down. Honey shrugged, "Alrighty, have fun at work. See you tonight, don't let the sheep get you." She says sitting in her chair. She then told Nick that she would tell him later tonight what she discovered. Nick shrugged with a smile and got to his car, driving into the street.

…

After a short drive, he made it to the doctor's office for his appointment, and went to the front desk. After he gave the front desk his information, he went to sit down. Unfortunately, there were many bigger animals like elephants crowding up the chairs, so he had to opt for the floor near the window and took a look outside. He looked in the reflection and remembered what was bugging him through his reflection.

The collar.

It was no ordinary collar, it was a shock collar issued for all predators, and just for them. If a predator got angry or too excited at a prey (or anybody, really), the collar would shock the animal, and it stung bad. He's worn it for a long time, probably when he was a teenager, he didn't remember.

Honey wore one, his other friends were no different from this collar. Ideally, it made some sense, predators shouldn't be attacking and eating prey anyway. Unfortunately this makes predators too open to being abused, since this collar had a nasty side effect and Nick saw it firsthand.

"Nicholas Wilde!" A voice shouted, surprising Nick, who snapped out of hyper focus of his collar, and walked over to the doctor.

...

Nick only had a normal checkup routine for him to go through, and there was one part he was looking forward to. "Alright Nicholas." The lamb Doctor mumbled, "I'm going to take your collar off, then give you a new one that'll fit better." He says as he unlocks it.

The weight and discomfort dropped like the collar as Nick felt the short freedom he was given. He rubbed his neck, the fur wasn't as well kept compared to the rest of his fur, and most of it was forced down. The doctor frowned at Nick's relief, "Don't get too comfy. Here's the new one." The lamb said rather hasty, and put the new collar on, still hasty. It admittedly fit Nick better, but it still gave him a lot of discomfort.

The checkup was all finished and Nick headed over to his place of business, or so it seemed. Nick parked his car into a parking spot far away from the rest and entered the building. The building was nothing more than an old abandoned greenhouse, and it was HUGE for a greenhouse.

As Nick walked into the building, it looked somewhat of a research facility, and a fat cheetah was sitting at the front desk, very excited, "Nick, you finally made it! Everyone is waiting to enter in!" He smiles as Nick walked to his side, "Yeah, sorry about that Clawhauser, the checkup was a little longer than expected." He shrugs, "How busy is it today?" the fox asks, "About the usual amount, not too busy or quiet." Clawhauster says happily. Nick chuckled, "Well, keep up that disguise anyway, I'm heading in." Nick said, leaving the front desk.

Nick entered a door to reveal what was inside of it, his hard work that he made only for predators.

It was an amusement park called "Wild Times". It was kind of beat down, but it was good enough that Nick could do. Despite that all it had was three short rides, and it was kind of gloomy, it was filled with nothing but excited joy. All the predators in Zootopia would try to get into the park, just to get away from the rest of the world.

Nick smiled and walked into a booth, where all the predators waited in line, waiting to get in, "Alright, animals, enjoy your visit here, and remember to have fun!" Nick speaks into the microphone, allowing the park to be opened. He plugged in some music and left as the other predators entered into the park and went to his office, to do his normal things. Though he saw a bobcat family trying to calm down their crying cub.

Nick walked over and kneeled down, "Everything alright?" he asked, with the mother looking at him, "He got a little to excited, he couldn't help himself and I guess the collar shocked him." She explained, unable to calm him down.

Nick looked at the cub, "Hey, little guy." He says, catching the young cat's attention, "I know that shock hurt, but there is no need to cry." He soothes, with a calm voice, keeping his attention. The cub grabbed his parents' hands, wiping his tears away, "Now, just remember that because you have that on you, doesn't mean you are any different than those that don't, ok?" Nick smiles as the child was nodding and smiling ear to ear again, the mother very happy.

"Bless you." She smiles as Nick gets up, "Seriously, thank you, Nicholas." The father said to him, but Nick held a paw up, "Call me Nick, and no problem, have a good time, ok?" Nick says, happy he helped them.

Nick watched them walk away and started walking down the path, watching the animals having fun. He enjoyed this, sure, the park wasn't big, or special, or really, anything.

To Nick, however, it was what he always wanted to do, even if it meant some compromises. His dream was to make this amazing amusement park for the entire world to have. The money was an afterthought to him, despite that he barely made enough to support himself.

His thoughts were interrupted as someone poked his shoulder, making Nick turn around to see a big, unfriendly, fluffy polar bear in front of him, "Kevin, right?" Nick says with a fake calm voice.

"Yes, you are Nick Wilde?"  
"Yeah, why are you here?"  
"Kozlov sent me here, he wants a to have his business in the center of Zootopia."

Nick started walking away, "Let me guess, he wants this land. News flash, not gonna happen. If he wants anything from me, I'll give him a free pass to the park, that's all." He says rolling his eyes, the bear followed him,

"He will pay for this land. This is the only spot for him."  
"The price I'd sell for is nothing he'll ever convince me."  
"He will get this spot."

"I don't want to do business with him, got it? Go tell him that, I've got enough on my plate right now."

"Doesn't matter if you don't want to do business, everyone gets into business with him."  
"Get out of my park."

Nick shoos the polar bear away from him, and he finally got the bear to leave and sighed in relief. He hated it that the polar bears came to his park, he knew they've been trying to buy it, but Nick wasn't throwing away his dream. Even if it didn't make remotely enough money the prices Kozlov offered.

Nick went to his office's building and went to his actual office and opened his window. He put his earbuds back in his ears to listen to music as he watched through binoculars to see if everything was alright.

...

The day went along smoothly, and normal little issues came up, nothing concerning, and it was practically almost close to closing. A call came in through his phone, interrupting his music and blasting his ears with the loud ringtone, making him hit his head at the top of the window itself.

He groaned and held his head, unplugging his headphones and looking at his phone, Finnick was Muzzletiming him.

Finnick was a fennec who could probably pass for a child, if it weren't for the deep voice. The only reason why he was one of Nick's partners is because Finnick was put in the same situation as Nick. The reddish-orange fox opened the call to see Finnick with his headphones around his neck and collar with his black jersey on his screen.

"Yo smalls, what's up." He grins, only to be greeted back a scowl, "Don't call me that!" He says, rather annoyed, "I'm calling to see how today is going, seems late."

"It seems like an ordinary day today, the park is going to close a little earlier though today."

"Why?"

"I think a shop that is filled with prey are suspicious.."

"Right, right, I keep forgetting that they denied your ideas for a theme park, so you built one in secret."

"You know, they never gave me a ch-"

"Nick, they're full of stupid stuff. No intelligence, nothing we can do about it."

"I'm just saying that this illegal business is going to bite us back, hard."

"It's the only way, unless you leave Zootopia, and we both know we can't do that. Too pricey legal-wise and if we just tried to any other way, we'd be caught with ease."

Nick put the phone down and rubbed his face, of course that was true, illegal was the only way to go, and he hated it. "You alright Nick?" Finnick asked, semi-annoyed. Nick picked up the phone, and sighed, "I think it's time to close up anyway, I'm heading home." Nick says, in the same, calm tone, then hung up, cutting off any further comment from the fennec.

He pressed a button to contact Clawhauser "Time to close up." He states before getting up and leaving. He left the building as many animals said goodbye to him, but Nick just went back to his car and rubbed his face again, and sighed.

"This place is not for me, or any predator." He sighed upset and started driving home.

...

"That mayor we had before Lionheart was removed because she was crazy! That's why we can't ever, ever trust these sheep!" Honey states at she eats her food, Nick fiddling with the last piece of his, "Nick, you alright?" She asks, Nick sits up after being asked, "I'm good as I can be." He sighs, "Actually, I'm just ready to finally give up." He shrugs, upset, "Geez, what's with being awfully negative?" She says, surprised.

Nick shot up insulted, giving her a dirty look, "Why am I negative?" He scoffed, "Well since you'd finally ask instead of rambling about your obsession, I hate how I have to do everything! If a prey had half a mind to learn about us, I would be running an amusement park legally, and I could walk in the street without worrying about somebody thinking I was a dangerous animal waiting to feed off of them, in fact, we wouldn't even be wearing thESE STUPID CO-"

 **ZAP!**

Nick doubled over, the shock stunning him mid sentence, and Honey rushed over, "Oh my goodness! Nick, are you ok?" She cries out, helping him up. Nick sat back into his seat, rubbing his neck, or whatever he could, he knew he crossed a line he set for himself, "I'm sorry." He says, really meaning it.

Honey took pity on him, "Don't be, I should understand by now, but I think you need sleep." She says, helping him get into his room, Nick didn't need her to do so, but he wasn't going to be able to convince her otherwise.

Nick changed his into his pajamas and lied in bed, looking at the paintings he made on the stands, he found those another way to deal with the outside world.

Each one of them showed what he thought the world would be, but it was never going to change. But there was no harm for dreaming about it.

He fell asleep, hoping for tomorrow to be somewhat a better day.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this start, I'll try to update soon, feel free to leave your thoughts on this so far.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well I'll admit I was surprised by all the positive comments on the story so far, thanks!**

 **In the meantime, here's the next chapter, and again, feel free to leave your thoughts on how you think it's going.**

* * *

Ok so he overslept today.

Nick was scrambling through breakfast and leaving through the door, he slapped on an island styled shirt and didn't bring his coat, with the same khakis. He tripped over the curb and got up to enter his car and sighed frustrated. There weren't going to be anybody at his park today, but he needed to keep it set up for tomorrow. He drove over and parked at his location.

Yet for some reason, something made him feel he was being watched at the moment.

Nick turned around to look, there was nothing. His sly and calm act really wasn't going to help him. He shook it off and went to the local tea shop for his weekly tea.

All the prey inside looked at him, some with fear, others with disgust. He waited his turn, which was purposely longer and finally got it, taking a quick sip before leaving. They got lazy when it came to his tea, but at least he could fix it himself.

He got out of the shop. He got to the end of the sidewalk and looked both ways, and then kept walking forward as he walked across the street through the crosswalk.

 _ ***BEEEEEPPP!***_

Nick sped up his pace and spun around when he reached the sidewalk, nearly spilling his tea, "Watch where you're going fox!" The driver scowled and drove off. Nick stood on the other side of the sidewalk, astonished by the way "fox" was stated. He shook his head and turned around, nearly tripping over a small animal, this time dropping his tea. Nick groaned getting up, not noticing who he just knocked over, the smaller animal bounced right back up, shooting daggers to his eyes with her own, "And just is your business?" She asked, aggravated.

Nick looked down, it was a bunny, female, wearing a police uniform. Nick panicked in his head, but tried to stay calm, "Sorry ma'am, I didn't see you there, I'm just heading to work." Nick says in a relaxed tone, but the bunny's eyes narrowed, "I better not be seeing you doing anything suspicious." She sternly says as she walks away. Nick froze, sort of offended, "Um, why are you saying that?" He asks as she sighs and points at his building, "Crime scene, and I'd ask you what you saw, but I doubt you are anywhere near honest." She explains, before walking away.

Nick shook his head, did he hear her right? "Now hold on a second!" Nick calls over, following her, "What is that supposed to mean?" He demanded, scratching his neck in whatever way he could, "Well, I don't know where you've been living, but I've took notice that foxes like you lie and cheat through everyday life." She scoffs, crossing the street.

"Well, I'm not like most foxes."

"I haven't met you for less than a minute, and you've already lied to me."

"Excuse me?"

The officer stopped and turned around, walking backwards, " _I'm not like most foxes_ \- that is a dead giveaway that I can't trust you." She mocks, offending the fox more, "Oh, ok, now you're being ridiculous, that doesn't make sense! And you know what, I should be able to walk down the street without a _stinkin_ ' cop thinking I'm a walking hazard!" Nick says, speeding up his pace and get in front of her, stopping the rabbit. She sighed and looked at Nick, "Alright, you know what?" She says, jumping up to a stand so she was eye to eye with Nick,

"I've worked for the ZPD for a very long time, and I've learned that some animals are just born the way they are. Predators are just naturally violent, can't help it. Some are different, for example, what I found with every fox I've dealt with, is that they are just untrustworthy, and you will be no different, no matter what you say." She says, somehow towering over him and glaring.

"You make yourself sound so observant." Nick growls back. "I'm not untrustworthy. I could be just as observant as you." He says, glaring back.

"Like how you knocked down those flowers?" She says, pointing, making Nick spin around, seeing a bunch of plants on the ground, the last potted plant falling and shattering, "I got my eye on you. No funny business, fox." She says sternly, hopping down and walking away, leaving Nick to kneel down and pick up the pots that somehow didn't break.

"My flowers!" A voice came out of the small building, looking frantically as he scurried over to the pots, it was a small otter.

"Oh, geez, I am so sorry, Mr. Otterson." Nick says, putting the pots back on the table, and when Mr. Otterson saw Nick, he calmed down, "Oh Nick, that's alright, and call me Emmett, what happened?" He asked as he brought that pots back on the table with Nick, who shrugged, "Someone distracted me as I was walking and I ran into the table." He explains, stepping up.

As they were picking up the plants, some teenage moose came along with his friends and purposely knocked a potted plant into the street, running away laughing, "Hey!" Nick shouted, about to chase after them, but the otter stopped him, "Don't bother, it's fine." He says, the pot getting flattened as a car ran over it.

Nick cringed, then shook his head and remembered something, "Wait, why did only one of these pots shatter?" He asks as Emmett shook his head, "I can't afford real ones." He sighs, "I used to sell a lot more than this, but that was a while back, these are just plastic." He says, setting up the last potted plant, then perks up,

"Wait. Nick, I have a question, I heard you were talking to that smaller fox about more shops in your park." He begins but Nick stops him, "I really think it's a bad idea, I don't want anyone else getting in trouble if I got caught, ok?" Nick tries to explain, but the otter was persistent, "Nick, please, I don't know how much longer I can keep up my florist job here. I'm sure that I can improve my shop if I had one there, not many predators can come around here.." He says, his paws together now. "Please Nick, I need to support my wife and kids, no matter what."

Nick fumbled around his paws and rapidly looked around and gave a big sigh, how do you say no to a sad otter face?

"Ok, I'll talk to you tomorrow at my park, and spread the word around, a little. Make sure no prey hear it, then they'll get suspicious." Nick smiles as Mr. Otterson's face lit up, "Oh, thank you so much Nick!" He cheers quietly. Nick smiles and takes a look at the flowers on the table, "Hey, any chance I could buy one of your flowers? One of them at my park just died recently."

…

Nick couldn't stop thinking of the rabbit cop, out of all the animals in Zootopia, a predator trusting a cop was the same as an elephant picking a cherry with his hands; there was no point in doing so. It was a common phrase Nick would hear from the others, he thought it sounded stupid, but the idea behind it was true. Nick walked to the building, seeing two wolves looking in the building.

"Um. Can I help you?" Nick asks, making both of them jump, as they quickly turned around. They were relieved that it was only Nick. "Hey.. Sorry for coming here when it isn't open, but we were hoping to talk to you.." One wolf says, Nick realizing he was a bit scuffed up.

"What's going on?" Nick asks, with a growing concern, "Well, we were at your park last night, late, and we were leaving, then all of a sudden, something attacked me!"

"Did you see it enough to give more information?"

"No, it was too dark.."

"Dang, anybody else see it?"

"No, just us, and when we thought we were safe, someone with a metal bat chased us off!"

Nick mind clicked when he heard the last statement, "You guys can come in for a little bit, I want to get something sorted out." He says, unlocking the door and letting them all in, then locking it shut.

...

When they were in the actual park, they saw Finnick holding a dustpan, looking dusty, as Clawhauster was sweeping and eating a doughnut, "Nick. Over here." Finnick says through the microphone. Nick walked over, "Smalls, I got something to ask you?" He says , "Man, cut that out! You are _beyond_ late!" He growls, almost activating the collar, and Nick's expression went from sly to worried,

"Sorry."

"Whatever, what's your question?"

"Did something happen last night, like, late at night?"

Finnick's ears jolted as he looked behind Nick, seeing the wolves. He chuckled awkwardly, "Yeah.. About that, that was a mistake?" He said, trying to convince an annoyed Nick. Nick's glare didn't adjust, he wanted to hear Finnick's story.

"Alright, so I was walking to my van after being out, and I saw something crazy going on at your park. So I grabbed my bat and ran over, I didn't actually attack them, but I scared them off. I don't know why they were there." Finnick explains, with Nick and the wolves nodding, the dogs nodding at each other.

…

The wolves left, satisfied with Finnick's apology, which was genuine for a change, and once they left, Finnick looked up at Nick as he sat in the booth,

"So why are you late?"

"I overslept, and then a cop stopped me."

"He didn't do a thing to you?" Finnick says with suspicion, Clawhauser stopping mid-doughnut (it was rare for him to stop in any case). Nick shrugs it off, "She didn't do anything, but she thinks I'm up to something, like every other animal in existence." Nick says, "But my problems are nothing, what did you need?"

Finnick took a moment to respond, "Ok, I lied earlier, and I gotta tell you this straight, that isn't the first attack of that kind, have you heard of a 'Savage' going around?" Finnick says. Nick raises an eyebrow, "No, I haven't? What do you mean by 'Savage'?"

"Well, nobody really knows what he's doing to other animals exactly, but it seems all predators are being targeted, and I'm warning you because that's why those wolves were here. They were attacked."

Nick stood stunned, this meant he would be a huge target, both by the savage and police, "That explains why that wolf seemed a bit messed up, but was-?" He asks hastily, "Nobody got hurt, relax kid. He did get whacked up by something as he was in our parking lot last night and nearly taken away, but he escaped with the help of that other wolf." Finnick finishes, kicking back into his seat.

Nick leaned against the booth, unsure what to say, that was a big deal! Nick looked at Finnick with a nervous look, "I think we should be closed for a bit." Nick states, but that only caused Finnick to jolt back up, "No, no, no." He growled, "This is our only way to support ourselves right now so I'm not gonna let this place be closed." He growls, "Well I'm not gonna let anybody here get hurt!" Nick scowls back.

"Hurt, smhurt! They know that was not going to be a common thing here! That 'Savage' is random!"

"You realize this is the last place they expect to get hurt? Right?"

"Oh come on, you wanna talk about hurt? These rides are going to break down at any given moment!"

"That's why I keep trying to fix them! And furthermore, this place is meant to make predators feel safe, and feel welcome!"

"So you keep delaying the inevitable! _Your dream is never coming true_!

Nick was taken aback, that really hurt him. Clawhauser had enough and jumped in between the two, "Come on you too! Don't fight!" He says worryingly. Nick backed off, "I'm heading home, I don't have to put up with you." He sighs, turning and leaving, "Why do you push him like that?" Nick heard Clawhauser's upset voice, "Well I didn't intend for this to go that far!" Finnick's deep voice sighed back, and Nick left though the doors by the time Finnick finished his sentence.

...

Nick didn't see the attack, but it was playing on repeat in his mind. Those poor wolves, and even though Nick knew he couldn't do anything about it, Finnick's sharp words were scratching his ears. He didn't want to admit they were true, but they were.

Nick was a couple of feet away from the sidewalk from where he nearly got hit and saw the same bunny, who stopped him, "What's your name?" She asks, "Um, Nick Wilde, why do you ask?" Nick answers suspiciously,

"Nicolas Wilde, you are under arrest."

The bunny's voice said this so it was crystal clear in the fox's head, "Whoa, w-wait? Why are you arresting me?" Nick said somewhat surprised, expecting that he was caught from the whole amusement park stuff. The bunny took no hesitation and handcuffed his paws in front of his stomach, "We have some evidence that you are linked to the savage that attacked here tonight." She says as she directs him to the police car.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What evidence are you ta-" "Get in the car." The bunny interrupts, bringing Nick to the local ZPD. The inevitable no longer being delayed.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Note: Updated 6/15/16**_

* * *

Nick recalled the memories, thinking hard and over. He snapped out of his daze and refocused on the prison cell he was in, trying to clear his head and focus.

For the first time in his life, felt completely hopeless. He was in an orange jumpsuit and trapped in a prison cell. His mind was a complete mess and rapidly flipping through different thoughts, he was thinking of escape, his friends, how he got into this mess. He felt there wasn't a point, nobody listened to him. After he was arrested, he tried to explain to the rabbit officer and wanted to know why he was arrested, she didn't give any reason and ignored him. No matter what he told the rabbit officer, she wouldn't listen, and it only made the situation practically worse.

Even if he went through the system of determining if he was guilty or not, that wasn't going to help. He was going to be tried and if he knew anything about being tried, the jury was going to be completely prey-only. Convincing anybody got him nowhere, he simply had to escape, hang low and out of sight for a bit. He just needed some kind of opening…

Nick's door was opened, this made him feel a chance was coming, he was handed a quarter, it was going to be given as his phone call as he requested.

Nick followed the rhino cop as he scanned his surroundings, he wasn't handcuffed, and to his surprise, there was a door accidentally left open. That was all he was able to get as he was shoved forward. "One phone call." The rhino cop growled as Nick turned to the phone, and tapped his foot.

The fox debated if running would even work, but the rhino was rushing his decision now, and his mind was screaming for him to take the 'flight' path.

Nick flicked the coin around his fingers until it was in between two of his fingers, appearing to be hidden to the back of his paw and looked at the rhino, who was eyeing him suspiciously, "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"The quarter, why are you doing that?"

"…Oh! That's nothing.. I just like magic, it's interesting. You know, trickery of the mind?"

"I know what magic is, I know the tricks they do."

"Yeah, you know.. The way they do is that they make their audience so focused on them, they have them forget to check their surroundings and focus on the one talking."

The rhino blinked, and just noticed, Nick wasn't in front of the phone anymore, he was in front of an open door, "Hey!"

Nick took the bold decision to run as fast as he could to the open door, and didn't even bother looking back. He just ran, and until he was outside again. Being in a dark prison would make it blinding for Nick to see outside, not to mention, he usually wore sunglasses, but this wasn't the time to complain. He ran as fast he could through the city, running through the street to the sidewalk. He ran past shops, quickly looking around for a way to run away undetected. He heard a loud crash and saw the rhino stumbling of a basket of blueberries, the female lion owner upset by it. Nick took advantage of this and ran into an alley until he was in another part of the city.

…

Nick noticed he wasn't being followed, but kept running to the nearest phone where he would be hidden and put the quarter in, dialing a number quickly.

A short ring was interrupted quickly, as if expected,

 _"Who is this, how'd you get this number?"_

"Finnick, it's me, Nick!"

 _"Oh geez…"_ Finnick's voice sounded like he was in sincere regret,

 _"I saw you get taken away, what even happened?!"_

"These cops think I'm the fr-" **_Zap!_** "Ow! They think I'm the savage!"

 _"Beautiful! What do you want me to do?"_

"I panicked and escaped the prison! I need to hide or something!"

 _"I'm in my van at the alley near that elephant ice cream shop, that's too far for you get to me, and me to you.."_

"Well, I'm certain I'm in the center of the city right now, where's the best place to hide?"

 _"Center? If you're in the center of the city, cut through Little Rodentila and keep going north, you'll reach Honey's place, it's actually not too far away!"_

A police siren wailed behind Nick as he turned around, it was the same bunny cop!

"Gah! I got to get out of here!" Nick cried out, dropping the phone and ran away, leaving it dangling. _"Nick? Nick, man what happened! Nick? NICK!?"_

…

Nick rushed to Little Rodentila and stopped to turn around. The bunny was coming right at him, and he spun around to to climb the fence, and jumped over, trying not to hurt anyone, and dashed off. As expected, Little Rodentila was small to navigate through, and Nick got to the center quickly, passing the "Big Doughnut", he crossed over to the right where the bunny tackled him, making him flip and toss her off, he passed some buildings to squeeze through.

The bunny jumped over, landing on a small building and accidentally tilted it over, causing a domino effect with other buildings, nearly crushing Nick, he swiftly used his weight to push the buildings back in place and fled again to the north, he jumped and dived past some more buildings to hide behind. The bunny didn't notice him, and watched past the buildings, her taser armed. Nick tilted his head only to see all the small animals watching him, it made him uncomfortable and made him crawl back into the fence he needed to get out.

…

He got out undetected and ran quickly away north, making it back to Honey's place, which was also his home. He banged on the door and collapsed to the side of the door, he was more exhausted than he realized. The door opened to a very concerned Honey as she let Nick in, "It's a long story.. I need some rest and I need to hide." Nick slurs his words as Honey grabs him some water.

Nick explained everything, from the savage, to his escape from a prison, "Finnick told me you were taken away.. I never thought you would ever be mistaken for that." Honey sighs.

"You like conspiracies, Honey? Can you please help me find any information for this guy, the 'Savage'?" Nick pants, "I will, but you should hide in my bunker for maybe a week unless something else comes up, I think that'll have them lose focus on you." She says with a confident tone, "I hope so.." Nick sighs. His life was all messed up now, and he probably made it worse, even if the police find out he isn't the "Savage", he would certainly be in trouble for escaping a prison, and something would be added from Little Rodentila.

Nick collapsed in the bunker bed, he was exhausted. How could he convince the police he was innocent, now that he was technically an escaped convict?

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 **Just a quick note, this was my first time writing an action scene, so I'd be interested to know how that came out to you guys. Anyway, I'll update soon, I keep rewriting these chapters a little too much. :P**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Just a quick little thing. I've been reading the reviews that have been given on this story, and it's nice to see that you think this story is going well! However for some reason, it's (currently) saying there are 13 reviews, when I can only find 10 on the reviews, is there some weird glitch?**

 **Anyway, here's chapter 4!**

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Nick awoke in the bunker with the radio waking him up, it was an all too familiar tune, Gazelle's mega popular single, Try Everything. It was reaching it's end though, so Nick wasn't too bother by it.

"… _and that's a single that's making history, 6 months at the number one hit song! Unfortunately, I'm getting the feeling that Gazelle needs to hit the rehab center soon!"_

Nick turned his head to the radio, interested by it.

" _Oh, it happens to every pop star, what has she been doing?_

" _Her latest rally! She's either joking or insane, because it's an 'equality' rally for predators to remove the collars!"_

Nick listened in shock, were they serious? Then again, there was no reason, maybe she just wanted more predators to buy her song, as if it wasn't heard enough on the radio.

" _Now that's crazy! Does she have a reason?_

" _Well, according to her, she finds them 'disgusting and labeling' and she talked about the Tigers who were her backup dancers and how she felt they were being degenerated by them. Tsk, these pop stars have a voice everywhere, but they know no-"_

Nick unplugged the radio, disgusted by the comments and looked forward. He saw a recent painting of his on the canvas in front of him. The fox rubbed his eyes, he remembered falling asleep, but he didn't remember the painting in front of him. He crawled out of the bunker's bed to get a better look of his painting.

It was a painting holding a smashed collar, the arm still holding it, the hand seemed limp, despite that it really wasn't. The arm and hand was in collar, and neatly made, but the collar was the opposite. Nick picked up a black pen and wrote his name in the bottom right corner, shrugging at it as he examined it more.

He was still sore and unsure of what to do, his thoughts were distracted by the bunker top opening. Honey dropped down to the bunker with breakfast, "How are you doing- a new painting already?" She asks, putting the food on the table as Nick sat down, "Yeah.. Funny thing is, I don't remember painting it.." He sighs, "You were pretty tired when I was cutting you out of the jumpsuit, and you've done it before." Honey says, shedding some light on the painting.

Nick remembered at this point, he was frustrated with Zootopia. It ruined his parents' life, he didn't really know his father because he was gone, he wasn't even sure if his mother was even alive, he was forced into running an illegal business, and now he was framed without a fair chance to prove he wasn't what they said he was.

To top it off, he couldn't do anything about it, he couldn't change who he was, the rabbit cop was right. "Honey... do you ever hate being a honey badger?" Nick asked simply, causing Honey to flinch, "What do you mean?" She asked, "Do you wish you were a different animal? Prey to be precise?" Nick clarifies.

"Now you're talking like that crazy sheep I keep telling you about!" Honey sighs as Nick chuckled under his breath and started to eat, "You haven't let them get to you before now, and you still won't! I won't let you take the blame for any of this! It has nothing to do with being a fox!" She exclaims. Nick finished eating the breakfast as he looks at her, "Yeah.. maybe you're right.." Nick chuckles, "Of course! It doesn't matter what animal you are, anyone can be anything!" Honey states as her phone went off. She nudged Nick shortly after taking the call, "It's Finnick." She smiles as hands him the phone and jumps onto her computer, looking at more "hidden secrets" about the government.

" _Nick, how are you doing?"_

"I'm as good as I can be. What's with the call?"

" _Just making sure you're ok, I'm assuming you lost your phone?"_

"Yeah, I did."

There was bit of silence on each end, creating a bit on awkwardness and tension.

" _Look, Nick, man I'm really sorry on what I said to you. It's been really tense for me in the past few days."_

"I get that, and I know you need money, but I have a lot of morals that I won't let go."

" _Do I really blame you on that? No, maybe closing is a smart idea, but I don't think the 'Savage' thing is blowing over anytime soon."_

"I made it worse."

" _No! It's that stupid bunny! If she was on a farm like she belonged, then you'd be still a free fox!"_

"Dude, come on, that's kind of a low blow."

" _Whatever, back to the problem on hand. I'm sure you can replace your phone soon, but the issue on why I called you is that the animals that want to add their stores at the amusement parks are here."_

Nick slapped his forehead, annoyed. He completely forgot about that, and he had to stay out of sight. "I'm not sure if it's safe for me to get there, can't you tell them to come ba-"

" _Ya, I got that. I know that you need to stay low, but this can be done quickly. Besides, Honey and I discussed it after you got home, she got a plan ready. Trust us."_

Nick took a look at Honey, who winked at him, "Alright then you two, I hope you guys got this all planned out." Nick said, mustering up confidence and hanging up the phone.

" _This is not going to be good."_ Nick thought to himself.

…

The plan? Well it simply was having Nick hiding under a blanket as Honey drove there. The fox shuffled his fingers as he peeked out of the blanket, seeing familiar sights. Nick adjusted his position to his side, "Honey, how am I going to even get into the building? It's not easy to hide in plain sight." He asked, worried, "Last thing I need is you guys getting caught up with me."

Honey smiled, "You worry too much Nick, Finnick had a plan up his sleeve." She explained as she turned to the building, with Nick rolling his eyes, this was coming from someone who freaked out about every rumor that existed; from mega pop star Gazelle changing her fashion line to the government being a cover up for an alien race.

…

She drove past the entrance and drove to the back, much to Nick's confusion. Nick peeked up some more, exposing his face now as he looked at the wall that Honey was in front of, "Finnick, we're here!" She calls out, and the wall began to fold up, like a garage door!

Nick watched in awe as Honey drove into the building and parked the car, and Finnick looked through the back seat window at Nick, who took the blanket off, "Told ya we got some tricks up our sleeves." Finnick grinned.

Nick got out and watched the garage(wall?) door close up, acting as if it was never there, "When did you guys _do_ that?!" Nick finally asked, while Finnick chuckled, "Heh, a while back when we were building this place, impressed?" he explained as the fox followed him to the park, "Well, would've been nice if you told me earlier, man!" Nick excitingly said, genuinely impressed. Nick watched as he saw some animals walking around, some looking very nervous.

"Here's my suggestion, since they have to sell stuff in here, _our place_ , we take 25% profit, eh?" Finnick says, nudging Nick further in, but the fox shook his head, he wasn't even sure if it was going to even work. A small female otter holding a flower in a pot was up first, stopping Nick quickly and he realized who she was for.

He kneeled down to look less intimidating, "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Otterson, why are you here?" Nick asked the nervous otter, "Well.. I'm here for my husband, he couldn't leave work today." She said, with a rather nervous tone, which Nick instantly picked up, "He wants to expand his floral shop in here, he thinks the business would be better.. please.." She finished as Nick snuck a look at Finnick and Honey, both were urging him to make a decision, "Well, I'd be glad to have him sell his flowers here, the one you're holding looks beautiful." He chuckles.

The otter smiled, and thanked him, but as Nick turned back at Finnick, he was giving him a look that he needed to talk about getting a share of their profit. Nick shook his head and faced her again, "There is one thing, a profit cut." Nick said calmly as the otter got nervous again.

"..Don't worry a thing about that, keep the profits to yourself and your family." He smiled as the otter gave a sigh of relief, "Oh.. thank you so much! Emmett will be so happy to hear this!" She smiled happily and gave Nick the flower, and started her way home, "You're hope in a living being!" She calls out to him back Nick shook his head, "No, no.. don't call me that!" Nick said, not at all happy with that comparison.

Finnick popped up next to Nick, "So what's our share?" Finnick asks, rubbing his paws together, "…0%, and there's no changing that." Nick says with a calmness in his voice, much to Finnick's surprise, "WHAT!?" _**Zap!**_ "Ow! Why'd you do that!?" he growls, getting shocked in the process, "I did that because we already make enough for ourselves, how much do we make in this park alone on average?" Nick slyly said, to which Finnick growled, "$24,000."

"Then we split that between me, you and Clawhauster, which we end up sharing, how much each?"

"$8,000."

"For an illegal theme park, that is good enough for the three of us. I'm not alienating money out of others. Besides, you barely spend it."

Finnick growls more and calmed himself down, "Fine. It's your dream, I just collect the money." He growls walking away. Nick sighed as he turned around the other animals, "So… who's next?"

…

After a long day, Nick had 5 more businesses in his park, just so they were able to support themselves, and Nick was finishing up. He had to draw the line to the cheetah that would show movies, since they were already so expensive in the first place. He walked up to Honey and put his paws in his pocket, looking around and smiling, with Honey taking notice.

"Hey, is that a real smile I see?" She grins, as Nick looks at her, "A real smile?" He says, confused, "Come on, you don't smile that much, and when you do, it's forced!" She keeps grinning, poking Nick's side, "They aren't forced! I've smiled for real a lot!" Nick grabs his side, keeping his smile. Honey slowed down and looked at Nick, who was gazing around at the park, "You deserved all of this. That's why you're really smiling." She says, poking him again.

They settled down as Honey handed Nick her phone and opened it as it rang, it was Finnick's number,

"So, dude, I did take one price cut since it was fair, you hap-"

" _You need to get out of here!"_

"What are y-"

" _The ZPD is here! Clawhauster saw them come, the bunny cop just dashed in!"_

Nick stopped asking questions and ran to Honey, "Get to the car! The ZPD is here!" Nick said quickly, but a net quickly tied up his feet as he was running, he motioned for Honey to get away as he tried to untie himself, but the bunny stomped her foot down on his chest, slamming his head to the ground, "Think you'd get away?" She growled, flipping Nick to his stomach and handcuffing him again, "I'm _not the savage_! Let me go!" Nick shouted, but the bunny easily dragged him away, out of the building and back in the car, "Get ready for a long ride, you're going to Cliffside." She growled and locked Nick in the car, then getting in the driver's seat.

Nick watched as the cruiser drove away, and he saw the building with his amusement park getting further and further away. Nick fought back the urge to yell and turned to the cop, "How many times do I need to tell you.. I'm not the savage.." Nick said, somewhat with a mix of fear and calmness. The bunny sighed, "Fine, suppose I somehow, by some crazy little miracle, believe you… you still escaped an armed prison after being arrested." She says coldly, not turning her head. Nick groaned and looked down at his feet, he knew that was still going to be used against him, "Can you at least turn on the radio? You said it was going to be a long drive ma'am." Nick asks, with the bunny rolling her eyes and switching it on.

The "Try Everything" song came on yet _again_ , but it was good enough for Nick, anything that wasn't insulting him directly was good enough for him. He looked outside the window as he got further away from the part of Zootopia he was used to, to an unfamiliar part of the city. Then he could see a large tunnel, and he had no clue where he was now.

* * *

 **So funny thing, Nick being an artist was kind of an accident. I was looking at the concept art of Zootopia, and the image I'm using for this fanfiction is the one I misread. I thought he was painting something, but he wasn't. However, I liked the idea, and I decided to work with it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Looks like the reviews are now up to date, that's good.**

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Nick woke up from his nap, licking his lips and leaning forward as he looked outside it was raining hard out there. He blinked and looked, he wasn't sure where he was. To his knowledge, he only knew part of Zootopia, he didn't really explore much ever since he got to the city, simply couldn't afford it. He looked around in the car, nothing too special, then again, he really wasn't looking.

He saw the bunny cop, still focused on driving, but based on how the copper car has a big cage blocking each animal, she had no reason to worry, "Hey.. Where am I?" he asked the bunny, who turned her head slightly and rolled her eyes, "We're in the Rainforest district, halfway there. Wipe your drool." She states as Nick's eyebrows jolted up as he realized the drool and tried to wipe away the drool with shoulders.

He wasn't very flexible, and he couldn't get his muzzle on his shoulder comfortably. It could be easier if his hands were handcuffed in front of him rather than behind.

Speaking of that, his arms were starting to reach the same discomfort level as his neck, it was just as sore from the collar on his neck. With that realization, his neck was bothering him a lot more now, he was resting his head against it uncomfortably. He was also getting really thirsty, and the pounding rain was not helping him either.

He leaned forward again, "Any chance I ca-" He started, but the copper car took a huge bump and started making a thumping sound, "Oh are you kidding me?" the bunny groans, pulling over, "Wait here, don't pull any stupid moves." She growls, pointing at him as she got out of the car.

Nick watched her walk over the the front right tire, it was burst open. "Officer Hopps coming in, I need another copper car to bring the "Savage" to Cliffside. Over" She said speaking into her radio, _"Officer Guts responding, do you have a spare? Over."_ The radio spoke back, making the officer sigh, "I just used it a week ago, these cars are awful, how are we still getting these awful cars!" She snapped back, as Nick noticed.

He stopped focusing on her and looked around the car, it looked like a decent car on the inside, but apparently it was prone to breaking easily. The car was kind of dark inside, the seats up front looked spacious, made him wonder how that bunny was able to drive this car.

With nothing interesting coming from the car, he decided to look around. He turned his head to the other window, looking at the river blocked by a dam, again, it was dark, but he could tell what it was with ease. A historical dam made by beavers a long time ago. The river had a heavy current, and many dams were made to hold it. However, the material used was not expected to last long, and it actually was stronger than any material made for dams for a long time.

An important thing is that it was dangerous to get up close to it, nobody was allowed within a distance of it. However, he could've sworn seeing a figure running past the front of it, and shut his eyes. When he reopened them, the figure was still there, closer to the, but he noticed he had started to slash into the dam. Nick watched in awe thinking it was some teenage prey animal, swo he was expecting the bunny to let them get away but started to panic the dam began to fail.

He turned his head around at the Officer and started calling out to her, "Yo, ma'am! Officer! The dam is being damaged! Officer!" She was still on the radio, ignoring him. Nick kicked the door to get her attention, which also failed.

Why wasn't she listening?! Why was she ignoring him? He looked around the vehicle for something to help him escape, and saw a license with the officer's photograph.

" _ZPD Officer Judith Hopps"_ It read.

"Judith! Open the door!" Nick shouted, and finally got her attention, she seemed surprised by him knowing her name and opened the door a crack, "What is your problem?" She snapped, but Nick quickly responded, "The dam is going to fail! Someone was slashing into it!" He yelled, trying to get out. Judith looked behind the copper car and saw the near bursting dam and pulled Nick out of the car, "Come on, hurry up!" She shouted back, but it was too late, the dam burst and grabbed Nick and Judith, knocking them away from the road into the water further below.

Nick fell into the water and kicked his feet and legs to the surface, hitting and stopping on a rock against his back. His arms were still restricted, and was struggling to keep his head off the surface, trying to stay against the rock. He searched frantically to free himself, but to no avail.

Judith hit the ground nearby and slowly got up, regaining her senses and analyzing the situation, it was pouring and the river that was escaping from the dam had a very heavy current.

She started looking for that fox, she had no doubt this was an escape plan. She started running around and saw Nick in the river struggling, then he saw her look at him, "Judith, I'm over here!" He groans, "Get these handcuffs off of me, it's hurting me and I can't swim with them!" He pleaded. She debated to herself whether or not taking off the handcuffs on him was a good idea. Judy groaned to herself and hopped up on top of the rock he was against and took the handcuffs and unlocked them, causing Nick to swing his arms freely again! Nick groaned as he slowly tried to get on the rock, but was greeted with more water washing both him and Judith away.

Nick pushed against the water and shoved his way up to the surface filled with rushing water pushing him further away from any kind of safety. He swam hard to the land in the side, holding onto the ground as he searched frantically for Judith. Sure she was a cop and she insulted his species multiple times, but there was _NO_ way she was going to get hurt from some crazy animal, "Judith? You here?!" He called out and saw her small body struggling against the current and heading straight to a rock.

Nick started to swimming over, fighting the current pushing him further away from where they started, to her and extended his paw out, "Judith, grab my paw! I'll get us out of this current!" Nick shouted as she struggled to do so. What seemed like ages for both, they eventually grabbed each other's paw so Nick could pull her forward, unfortunately for him, he didn't notice the smaller rock that was directly at his lower rib cage and slammed into it, _hard_ , causing him to flip over it and became knocked out by the pain.

Judith saw him flip over in horror and held onto him, trying not to let him get too far away and keep him close to safety. She couldn't swim with the heavy current like Nick very well, and tried looking around for something to grab. Then to her shock, she saw the waterfall they were close to going over, and tried to struggle away, but to no prevail and went over.

…

A crash to the calmer body of water allowed Judy to swim with ease and bring Nick out of the water, resting him onto his back, looking at him. They were alive, Nick was only unconscious, just from an injury. His shirt was torn from where he hit the rock, and it seemed it cut into him She looked for anything to help him with, and looked ahead, thankfully, the copper car was swept away with them, allowing Judith to grab a first aid fit.

She quickly unbuttoned his shirt to wrap gauze around his lower stomach, and slowed down as she finished, thinking to herself.

' _Did I just rescue a criminal, no, a predator, no, a_ _ **fox**_ _..?'_ She thought to herself as she finished wrapping the gauze, _'He tried to rescue me.. and so I guess I did the same..'_ She sat down dumbfounded, based on what she was told when a lot younger, how could any of this be true?

She shook her head and opened up her radio, which was miraculously still working, but the knob was jammed. "Officer Hopps, here." She starts, "I was just attacked, and the suspect was caught in between the chaos. Who is able to respond back, my knob on my radio is jammed. Over." She asks, waiting for an answer.


	6. Chapter 6

Nick could've sworn he was really having a horrible dream, he thought he was safe and sound on his bed, no, not the bunker bed that belonged to Honey, and sleeping soundingly in his room. He just wasn't sure if he was going to ever going to wake up, get away from his nightmares.

 _"Is he ever going to wake up?"_

Nick groaned awake, he heard somebody speak, and it was absolutely a voice he had never heard before. His eyes opened to see what it was, then they widened in surprise. "Hey guys look! He's awake!" The same voice cheered.

There was a lot of little bunnies around him, and they were all observing him, some were on his arms, others on his leg.

Nick looked at the bunnies in discomfort, "W-wha? W-where did you all come fro-?" He asked, a little fearful of doing anything to set them off, and they all started climbing and getting closer, bombarding him with questions and comments, Nick struggling to stay calm.

"Your tail is so bushy!"

"Wow your fangs look cool!"

"Why do you have red fur?"

"Why are you so big?"

"Thank you for saving Judy!"

Nick's ears perked up, two bunnies grabbing them as they did. Judy? Was that the same bunny cop that arrested him? Was this her family or something? There were so many little bunnies here, they all couldn't have belonged to her!

A little bunny hopped away, "Juuudy! Your friend is awake! Hi mom!" he called out as an older female bunny walked into the room with the bunny cop,. "Did you finally wake up?" Judy asked, holding a little bunny under arm. "U-uh… I just did, y-yeah… W-where am I?" Nick responded, as the older bunny started calling some of the bunnies off of Nick, noticing his injury "You are at my house, Nick. After you passed out and got injured, I decided to bring you here." Nick looked down, his shirt was unbuttoned and torn at the bottom with a lot of gauze correctly applied, he jumped and scrambled to button his shirt, feeling somewhat embarrassed, "Honey, do you need something to drink?" The older bunny asked.

"Er.. not really, but thanks?" Nick asks, locating his tie on the hat hanger, " I'll get you some tea and carrots, if you need something, don't hesitate to ask!" She smiles (though it seemed to be said somewhat fearfully) and hops away as Nick gets up and close to Judy, tying his tie back on.

He looked at the same officer Judy, now no longer in a uniform, just in some pretty casual wear, not anything Nick expected, "I'm in your home?" Nick asks, confused, "The nearest hospital was too far away. This was my alternative, don't get too comfy, alright, we're heading out soon." She explains backing away and grinning suspiciously, Nick looking confused, "Who wants to meet the fox?" She calls out, to Nick's horror.

"W-what!?" Nick shouts in surprise, but he wasn't able to say anything as multiple little bunnies started running onto him and climbing onto him, just like they did when he was asleep on the bed. Judy sat down and watched Nick, watching his every move as he awkwardly stumbled to the ground, sitting, and trying not to hurt any bunnies.

What surprised her most, was the fact that he was very gentle, and much calmer than she expected. Nick tried to keep up with the little bunnies pig-pilling him, and trying to get them off of him, "Alright guys, start saying goodbye, and Nick, can you follow me please?" She says, thinking Nick had enough to put up with.

The bunnies groaned with disappointment and slowly began to get off of Nick. He slowly got up, watching his step, wondering why Judy called her siblings onto him for a second time. Seeing Judy go into a room, he followed her, but was stopped by her mother to give him the tea and carrots she made.

A small bunny stopped him as he drank the tea in politeness, and looked down at him, "Mister, do you eat bunnies?" he asked as Nick's eyes widened, "Oh geez, no!" Nick said, starting to head to Judy's room, "Are you Judy's boyfriend?" He asked, with a big grin, with Nick slowly growing uncomfortable, "Err.. no, just, go play with your friends." Nick said quickly speeding up and avoiding any new questions.

…

Nick entered her room, it was kind of dark, but lit enough to see in, "This is your room?" Nick asks, nearly hitting his head on some random bar at the door, "Yeah, while you were out, I went through more of the evidence." Judy says, messing with the papers in her hands. Nick fiddled with his fingers, "How long have I been out..?" He mumbles to himself, which Judy picked up quickly, "The rest of yesterday and almost halfway through today, so not too long, honestly." She says starting to pin the papers up. Nick looked at the bunny and shook his head, "Do you go by the name Judy?" He asks, which she nods.

Nick shook his head, satisfied with the answers given, but started to remember something, what about his friends back inside Zootopia? Were they taken away too? Were they being tracked down at the moment for helping him? He knew Finnick and Clawhauster weren't all that friendly with the ZPD either and Honey is… Honey. This officer was still with him and didn't give him any info of what she was going to do to him, and honestly, he didn't want to know...

"Um.. is there any chance I can make a phone call or something?" Nick asks the officer, she looked back up at him, "There's a landline right there, don't leave the room, I still got some uncertainty with you." She states, making Nick confused, "Why am I in your _house_ then?" "Well I'll tell you this, my first thought was to handcuff you outside of my house, since my entire family is here, but I decided against it, you were injured." She states, pinning another paper on the wall.

Ignoring that comment, Nick walked over slowly to the landline and dialed Honey's number, hoping for her to pick up. A few short rings rang into his ear, and he tapped on the table in concern, wondering if she'd even pick up. She was pretty paranoid, after all.

" _Hello? Who is this? I'm ver-"_

"Hey.. this is Nick.."

Sudden silence, then a delayed gasp.

" _NICK! OH MY GOODNESS! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"_

Nick nearly dropped the phone and rubbed his ear, it starting to ring by itself in his head. Judy turned her head, then shrugged it off.

"Little too loud.. I'm ok."

" _Sorry, where are you? What happened- are they hurting you?!"_

"I'm fine! Look it's a long story, I don't really know what's going on, this cop bought me to her house.. Not too sure why.."

" _Do you need to be busted out?"_

"N-no! Don't do anything! I just wanted to let you know I'm ok, let anybody at our 'business' know that everything is alright.. I don't want you guys getting in trouble"

" _Ok.. If you need anything, you know we'll help you."_

"Thanks, you guys.. no heck, everyone at my 'business' are my main concern, please be careful."

" _Thanks Nick, you be careful too."_

Nick said farewell and clicked the phone back into the dock, as Judy turned around, paw at her hip and tapping her foot, "Who was that?" She asked, "Just my roommate." Nick said calmly, somewhat lying, "Just wanted her to know why I was gone."

Judy shook her head and turned around back at the wall, which Nick did the same, "Whoa.. this was bigger than I thought it was."

The wall was covered by a huge map of Zootopia and it's districts, all the crimes took place around the actual city, not anywhere else, interestingly. "The last attack that was reported was just after you woke up, crazy enough." Judy explains, pointing at an image of a tiger. Nick put his paws onto his hips, "Well, if I wasn't there, wouldn't that mean I'm innocent?" He asks, nervously.

Judy tapped her foot, "It does make the most sense.. but the description of the attacker was just the same!" She growled, "I guess anybody would think you aren't the 'Savage'.. but you aren't out this mess yet. This could be a two-mammal job." Judy says, looking at Nick straight in the eye, making him cringe a little, "Not including the fact, if I'm correct, your 'business' is running an illegal amusement park, aren't you?"

Nick groaned, he was completely caught, "Well since there's no way I can deny that.. yes, I am, but I-" Nick started, but Judy walked away, switching on the news, "Seriously?" Nick stood rather annoyed, "Be quiet for a second, this is about the 'Savage'.." Judy states, watching intently.

" _Yesterday, the well known "Beaver Dam" landmark was destroyed, police suspect that the 'Savage' was involved in the damage to the landmark._

 _Cameras have captured a police vehicle stopping, with an unknown figure running to the dam, and sweeping away the vehicle, the figure escaping. After the damage, as her copper car was by the river of the dam where she had the alleged identified 'Savage' in her custody. Everyone involved with the damage have disappeared, raising suspicion of the police officer in the car, Judy Hopps, aiding the savage."_

Judy quickly muted it, stunned. Nick turned back around with the map in front of him, unsure what to say. It was silent, the rabbit standing up and stomping her foot,"Unbelievable…" The bunny finally said, "I am the number one cop of the ZPD! I've worked my tail off for 3 years fighting an uphill battle! Why would _I_ be helping _any_ low-life?!." She says, flabbergasted. Nick shook his head and ignored the insult, "Now what?" He asks, Judy was the cop.

"I can't go to the station now that they will arrest me alongside you, they're that paranoid themselves, and I definitely know what happened that night.. I have to prove my innocence."

"…and me, Officer?"

"Not including your contraption of yours, you escaped a prison, you're still going to Cliffside no matter-"

Nick had enough of this bunny bad-mouthing him.

" **Perfect**." Nick growled, "I'll walk, thanks for the ride."

Nick eyed the rabbit for a short bit before turning around to the door, "By the way, if your mother asks, the tea was good."

Judy watched Nick walk to the door and debated to herself again, then remembered something,

"Why did you save me?" She asked, stopping Nick in his tracks, making him silent as he stood in front of the door, letting his paw fall away from the doorknob, "You got my handcuffs off of me when I was in danger, and let me grab your paw to pull you away when you were in danger." Nick explained after a bit of silence, not facing her, "I don't like seeing others unable to do anything to be able to defend themselves." The fox finished, adjusting his tie again. Judy stood dumbfounded, the fox sounded very wholesome in his last statement, there was no way to fake that kind of genuine feeling.

Could she trust him? That was the question. He was very gentle with her little siblings, and he hadn't really lied to her, when questioned, he admitted the amusement park!

"Ok.. Nick?" Judy started, sounding hasty, "If you help me solve this case, I'll pardon all of your violations." She promised, as Nick adjusted his collar, starting to think it over, "You'll pardon me? That would be nice, but…what can I even do?" Nick asked, turning to face her.

"Well.. there's this place in Tundratown that I could find some information about the 'Savage', small crimes are very frequent there, so I'm willing to bet that this guy is hanging around there." The bunny explained to Nick.

Nick slowly nodded, "If you know what you are doing.. then I'll help you." He states, "I should tell you I've never been out of the city itself, but I only know that there's a bunch of polar bears running the dang place."

"That's exactly where we're going!" Judy said proudly, only making Nick more nervous, somewhat regretting his decision.

* * *

 **Just a quick update, I'm going to try and make sure that I reach around 2,000 words for every chapter, I'm noticing the ones that are less give off a "rushed" feeling. Also, I love the scene with Nick and the little bunnies, it's cute and funny to me.**


	7. Chapter 7

"So if you don't mind me asking, why didn't we stop for coats or something?" Nick stuttered as he held his crossed arms closer to him, "No time for that, Nick, keep moving!" Judy snapped back, "Well if I don't get some warmth soon, I'm going to freeze here! This fur only does so much!" Nick shot back.

It was clearly obvious that the two animals were just not getting along at all. Nick was freezing and struggling to keep up, but Judy was persistent. Of course, Nick was still wearing the island styled shirt, whereas Judy changed back into her police uniform, which was long-sleeved.

"Where are we even heading?!" Nick asked, huddled himself even closer as Judy pointed to a nightclub, glowing red, "There! Hurry up, almost there!"

Nick stumbled as he followed Judy into the nightclub, which he finally had a sigh of relief from the warmth from it. Nick took a look as Judy hid behind a plant. The nightclub was filled with many predators, most of them looking very much less than friendly then he would've liked.

Judy took a look around at the bigger animals discussing to each other, "So.. You do the talking, you know what to say." Judy instructs, pushing Nick in front of her, "Hold up." Nick holds his paws up and turns back around to face her, "First, why are you behind that plant? Second, what makes you think I know how to act around these animals?" Nick asks, offended,

"Did you already forget I'm a cop? I'm asking you because you're in an illegal business, doesn't that say something?"

"I had like, one conversation with one of Kozlov's polar bears, and that was to just give him a free pass in my park."

"Hold up.." Judy spun around, ears jolting up,

"You're in business with Kozlov, the mafia boss? One of the most wanted criminals?!"

"No! That's the last thing I'd want to do, and even then I wouldn't want to do that!"

Nick was starting to get really annoyed now, and Judy could tell, "Ok, fine, _sorry_. Don't get your bushy tail in a knot. You _are_ a predator though, so try talking to one and get some info on Kolzov or the 'Savage'." Judy says, her paws on her hips and tapping her foot.

Nick turned away and looked throughout the building, there were lots of giant predators. Nick wasn't sure about the whole idea of talking to some stranger about some crazy mafia boss being a good idea. In fact, it was the exact opposite to him.

This nightclub was not very well lit, easy to hide someplace if needed, Nick noticed and passed by some large animals, not really getting a look at them, but listening in,

" _Nick Wilde, the 'Savage'? Don't buy it."_

" _He's always been a strange fox, and I mean that in a good way, I bet this 'Savage' is a prey in disguise, making predators look worse!"_

" _Which is more the reason for us preds to create a demonstration, demand these collars off, get respect. I'm not living my life in fear anymore."_

Nick turned away and tried to focus on the cop's demand, he just wasn't sure where to start! Everyone looked too dangerous to even ask a simple question, they were considering a riot! Nick shook his head to focus some more, but someone tapped his shoulder and turned around. "Nick? What are you doing all the way here?" It was the polar bear he talked to back at his park.

Nick stood surprised, "Hey.. Kevin, right?" Nick began, flicking his paws so they were pointing at him, but the polar bear held a paw up, "Don't use that sly act of yours, Kozlov's has business with you." The bear explains, but Nick tilted his head,

"Business? I don't have any-"

"Your park is closed, he wants to discuss it."

"Closed?! When did that happen?"

"Yesterday."

"Well there is no deal on no matter what he gives me, it's my park."

"Then tell him yourself." The bear mocked.

…

Nick walked back to the plant, leaning against the wall, trying not to look suspicious, he then tapped the wall to get Judy's attention,

"So, what did you find out?"

"Nothing, but I got called up to see Kozlov."

Judy perked up again,

"What!? Why?"

"It's about my park, he wants it, and I'm not giving it up."  
"After this is over, you aren't getting it back."  
"You said I'd be pardoned if I helped you!"  
"I did, but I didn't mean for you to go back to a life of crime!"  
"It wouldn't even be a life of crime if- Oh forget it!"

Nick stood in silence, looking away as Judy tapped her foot,

"I'm still going to see Kozlov, myself, he _hates_ prey, especially cops."  
"No you aren't, I need his information so he is in jail as soon as I'm done with you!"

"Then give me a suggestion on how you are going to hide from him, and get the information you so desperately need."

Judy looked around and saw a little shop through the window, and looked at Nick,

"You still want a coat?"

…

Nick sat in a limousine, which was slowing to a stop as they reached a lavish mansion, nothing subtle about the whole thing.

What wasn't subtle, was Nick's outfit, which was a large coat and weird-ish hat.

Nick watched the polar bears go into the building as Judy popped out underneath his hat, "See, was that too hard?" She asks, with Nick shooting her a look, "He wants my park, that's the only reason why I'm here." Nick explains, "Whatever you do.. Do NOT expose yourself. You are a cop, it's all over when he sees you, no one messes with him and gets out, alive." Nick crosses his arms as he sees the polar bears come back to the car, Judy hiding and the polar bears guiding him.

They walked through colder and colder corridors and hallways until they were in front of a lavish office, Nick instantly adjusted his tie and made himself look presentable, though the hat he was wearing was not helping, not at all.

Slowly a giant polar bear trudged against the floor, his footsteps practically shaking this ground as Nick flinched each time until he sat in his chair and faced them, with no motion with him,

"Nick Wilde. How has it been?"the bear spoke, it was no doubting it, it was Kozlov.

"I'm doing alright, freezing a bit, but that's not why I'm here. I don't have any business to do with you." Nick said, coolly,

"But there is, your park."

"I'm telling you that when I get back open, it will still belong to me."

"I can use that location to spread my own business, name your price."

"What good is it to you? That wasn't convincing."

Nick bit his lip, trying to keep calm, "That park is my _dream_! I've worked far too long and hard on just making that park work. No matter how much you give me, it will always be worth less than my commitment to that park."

Judy listened as Nick and Kozlov spoke calmly back and forth, she was expecting it to be violent, because she knew Kozlov gets what he wanted and Nick was not going to get rid of that park, one way or another, something about that park seemed a whole part of him.

"$500,000. Final offer."

"My answer is still no."

"What will convince you?"

"Nothing, do you not get that?"

"It's not like you're helping anybody with the park, just slowing down problems."

Nick stood there, unsure how to respond back, Kozlov was right, but he was not going to hand over the park with a snap of the fingers, and trusting this guy was dangerous.

Kozlov stood up and motioned Nick to come over with him, "Now, I will offer this again, $500,000."

"No."

Kozlov sighed as he opened the door and Nick followed him into it, the room seemingly warmer. Nick soon realized this was a problem, and all he really could do was unbutton his coat, "Warmer, Mr. Wilde?" Kozlov asked, with Nick nodding.

"I understand dedication for something you love, I have a son. He is precious to me." Kozlov said, still cold and emotionless… Yet when he talked about his son, it sounded sacred. Judy picked up upon it and jotted it down, the writing irritating the fox's head.

"However, a living being is more important than an inanimate place. I've seen your park, offered help and money. Yet you refused." Kozlov said, Nick shaking his head, "The money is the last thing I'm focused on, trust me. We see the world differently, and no matter how you see it, my vision is a lot different." Nick said, scratching his head, making Judy stumble a little, Kozlov noticing.

"Something wrong with your hat? It is getting warm in here."

"Nothing! I'm trying to get used to this hat, it can get a little itchy."

Nick gave an awkward smile as Kozlov inspected further, Nick's eyes racing around for a distraction. Then he saw something amazing.

"I-is that the rare art piece 'Card Players'?" Nick asked, and he could've sworn Judy rolled her eyes as Kozlov turned around. He turned back to Nick and nodded, "Yes, I forgot, you are an amateur artist, though amateur is an understatement." Kozlov said, Nick grinning, "Ur.. Thanks." Nick said, as he nodded, as Kozlov knocked his hat off, exposing Judy.

" _Well… That didn't work the slightest bit."_ Nick thought to himself.

Kozlov intimidated Judy's small size, "Ah Nick, don't think I saw through that?" He growls, Nick getting nervous, _"Just a friendly reminder, they figured out how to disable their collars."_ Nick whispered to Judy, who wasn't nervous at all as Kozlov got a closer look at her.

"You're a cop."

Nick's head started screaming to run, and was close to doing so. Judy on the other hand subconsciously reached for her tranquilizer gun, which was no longer on her, realizing it was taken..

"Get them."

Nick started to run with Judy jumping off and following, slowly getting in front of him, Nick heard tranquilizer guns firing and tried dodging as many as possible, but Judy falls over and tumbles on the ground as Nick gets a quick look. She was hit in her leg, the tranquilizer dart started it's effect on her instantly. Nick picked her up, bridal style, and ran outside, there wasn't much there for him to use except for running. Nick started on his way but saw a snowmobile inside the nearby garage to tread through the snow.

Nick ran through multiple rooms to lose the goons Kozlov sent after them and sat down in a dark room. His night vision (he was a fox, after all!) helping him look at the unconscious Judy and patting her on the cheek to wake her up. "C'mon Judy.. You gotta wake up here!" He said under his breath, starting to pat her other cheek, then suddenly stopping.

There was something uneven under her fur, felt painful. So Nick yanked his hand away and looked around in the room, trying to get his mind off of it.

Thankfully, the snowmobile he saw was in the room! Nick put Judy on the front of the seat and hopped on after. He tried starting the vehicle up, but the engine sputtered, the battery was dead. Nick frantically searched around for another way out and heard the doors for the garage to open, must his shock. He was panicking hard now, he did not want to get caught, he did not want to get hurt, he did not want Judy to face Kozlov's wrath, he-

 _ **Zap!**_

His collar shocked him, making him yelp out in pain and leaning forward, realizing the current surged to the battery! Nick started the vehicle up again, holding onto Judy and drove quickly away, just moments after Kozlov's goons got into the same room with him.

He instantly picked up on how to drive it and was already speeding away with ease. Two other snowmobiles were behind him and he sped up even more to get away. The bears shot more tranquilizer darts at Nick, who decided to yank the one in Judy to toss back. It hit a polar bear who zoned out and crashing into the ground, smothering the other bear in snow.

Nick cheered at his luck as he saw the town line and went for it, not realizing what would happen. The snowmobile hit the barrier between Tundratown's and Sahara Square's and knocked the snowmobile over, flipping both Nick and Judy.

They started rolling down a small but very sandy inclined hill, unable to stop until they landed at the bottom. Nick slowly got up, spitting in hope he didn't get any sand in his mouth.

…

It was quiet for a little bit, Nick noticed that the bunny hadn't woken up yet, and he growing concerned. He looked over at Judy, who was finally waking up, allowing him to give a sigh of relief..

"Ow.. what happened Nick?" Judy said, lifting herself up to sit down, but Nick was grinning like an idiot, remembering the events, "Heh.. We ran away from Kozlov.. you got knocked out and I escaped with a snowmobile.. and knocked out the two polar bears after us with the tranquilizer dart in you… I can't believe I did all that!" Nick started laughing in joy and excitement, "Oh my goodness.. does that happen to you on a daily basis?" He asks with Judy grinning from Nick's excitement, "Not as often as you think, but yeah." The rabbit responding, "Thanks for saving my life.. again." Judy grins with Nick getting up, "Yeah.. No problem. I doubt you got anything you wanted though.."

Judy got up with him, "Nah.. I finally got his location.. that's good enough for the ZPD later." She looked around at the desert, "We better get going." She says, making her way to the center of Sahara Square. Nick followed her, smacking his lips, "Aren't we going to get real thirsty here? It's really hot." He asked, "We'll be fine, we are in Sahara Square, and they make sure other animals can stay hydrated, there's a police station near here."

"Aren't we wanted by the police?" Nick asked, stopping Judy, "Right.. geez, I forgot." She opened up her phone again, getting a picture of the map she made, "I wish there was something that made sense here.. just some actual evidence!" She says as she continues her path. Nick followed along, taking a look at the map.

It didn't come to him at first, but he noticed something…

"Hey Judy, can I see the map for a second?" the Fox asked her, who did so. Nick examined it, looking at each location for the map, and he found it disturbing,

"This is going to sound crazy.. but the attacks are in locations I'm usually at.." Nick finally spoke, ".. but they are done at night. I'm at home by that time." He explains, Judy looking at him, "Wait… is that true?" Judy asks Nick as she looks over,

"Every Monday, I check out the record store, there was an attack there on a Monday with this brown bear..

Then there's every Saturday where I buy tea at the same place, there was an attack on the same Saturday which was not too long ago, maybe a week? He attacked a jaguar."

Nick explained this with fear, he was astonished by this. It was clearly obvious, the 'Savage' was trying to frame him, "What about the dam?" Judy asks, hoping for an answer, "Maybe he tried to get me killed so could finish it, but you got in the mix and he sparked a rumor that you were in on it.. that's my guess." Nick guesses the reason, which Judy stood dumbfounded.

 _Everything made sense!_ She wasn't able to figure it out because Nick had the last bit of information she needed!

"What day hasn't he attacked, if any?" Judy asks Nick, which he searched through, "Wednesday, I get my.. hobby supplies there." Nick says, struggling the find the right word, not wanting to reveal his paintings. Kozlov already told her indirectly that he was a painter, but he figured that they would be offensive to her.

"Hobby?" Judy asked, Nick's ears drooping, trying to think of a fake hobby, but Judy beat him to the punch,

"Kozlov said you are an amateur painter? Is that right?"

"Y-yes, but I didn't say anything because I only paint things that preds would've liked, prey would find them insulting, that's all."

Nick looked embarrassed, much to Judy's surprise, "I'm sorry, I'll drop it." She says, with Nick nodding his head. She was curious about the whole painting thing, now that she was slowly believing Nick wasn't a bad guy as she once thought.

She certainly was regretting all those things she said about him when they first met. It really made her wonder, but now she just had to focus at the issue at hand.

Judy tapped her foot, "Anyway, we need to hurry! It's currently Monday, if we hurry and grab a police car, then we can escape back into Zootopia on Wednesday!" the rabbit says proudly, but Nick seemed concerned, "Again, we're wanted by the police, how do we convince them to you know.. borrow their government funded cars to what they consider criminals?"

"Don't be offended by this question I'm going to ask you, ok?"

"I won't, I think we can understand each other now."  
"Do you know how to break into a car?"

"… I'd like to retract my previous answer."

* * *

 **I'm really surprised with the positive feedback I've gotten from this story so far! Thanks guys!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Quick fact, this was going to an even longer chapter, but I ended up dividing it into 3 different parts! Anyway, here's chapter 8!**

* * *

Nick drank heavily into the water bubbler, he has never been so thirsty in his life. He pulled his head back and sighed in relief as Judy did the same. They have probably been walking for hours through the whole desert, and the scorching heat was not helping. Nick got the worse end of the stick as his neck was practically _killing_ him, that collar on his was making it sweaty and itchy to keep on and he couldn't do anything about it.

"We finally made it, Nick, the police station is right there." Judy smiled happily, as Nick looked over her, seeing the smaller city square in action. Nick sighed in relief, it was still very hot, but at least they could get some water nearby to stay cool. "What's the plan, Hopps?" he asks her as she goes over it,

"We sneak in the police station here and get into the back. You do your thing and break into the car without setting the alarm off. Then, I'll drive us out of there, sound simple?" Judy explains it, but Nick seemed uncertain. However, at this point he had to go with her plan now, it was the only way to get back to Zootopia.

Nick followed Judy in under the shade and followed behind her, both of the somehow not getting noticed and entering the building, hiding in the large building in a corner. They slowly snuck around, passing the large desk with the sleepy receptionist, passing multiple fans and not attracting any kind of attention and avoiding security cameras.

They finally made it into the back of the station, a bunch of cars in the dark built-in shed. Judy eyed the copper cars and took a look at Nick, "Alright, do your thing." She says, turning back to watch him. Nick sighs and holds up some car keys and unlocks a copper car remotely, shocking Judy as she jolted her head right back around, "How did you-" "I swiped a key on the hook, alright? That's all I did." Nick assures, paws up and explaining.

Judy smiled, "Well, that is pretty impressive… let's get in." Judy grins as she opens the copper door for the driver's side, adjusting her seat and puts her gear in place, " _Heh, instinct is pretty weird._ " She thinks to herself and waits for Nick in the other side, who jumped into the passenger's seat, "Well, first off.. the front is much more comfy than the back." Nick chuckles as he stretches his arms and legs, "Great, let's roll!" Judy exclaims, waiting for Nick to close the door and starts driving away normally, trying not to raise suspicion as she looks around.

Nick sees some sunglasses as he snaps them open, "Sweet, can't stand the sun." He smiles as he put them on and looks forward, "What's the plan?" he asks, "Well, my initial plan is to drive back to Zootopia, but we might take an alternative route if things get rough." Judy explains, with Nick grinning, "And you say I'm clever, I would've never thought of a backup plan." Nick chuckles with Judy.

Judy stopped at the gate and turned to the side, motioning Nick to hide down. She looked through as she sees a camel asleep at the office, window open. She sighed at the sight and rolled down the window, climbing through the copper window and the gatekeeper window so she could open the gates herself. She leaned over to the button and placed the camel's hoof onto the button to open the gates and rushed back to the copper car, driving through it.

Both animals gave a big sigh of relief, realizing how close it was. Judy looked around the square, hoping that nobody at the ZPD would notice her, she knew that crimes weren't very frequent here, but there was always the possibility.

…

It was probably a couple miles since they started driving, Nick taking in the sights, he never knew how different the districts were, he wished he could've checked them out, but he simply was never able to find the time or money to do so. He shook his head and looked at the bunny, just yesterday, she seemed to want nothing to do with him, and now, she slowly warmed up to him. He scratched his neck and decided to strike a conversation.

"Um.. How are you doing?" Nick asked, mentally facepalming, Judy gave a polite chuckle,

"I'm doing alright, you?"

"Heh.. That was stupid question.."

"It's fine, we're finally starting to get along, which is pretty crazy if you think about. For me though, I'm actually really glad we are." Judy smiled Nick slowly doing the same,

"Good, good, it's kinda nice being with a prey that doesn't hates my guts, knowing me or not..

"Just so you know, I don't. I want you to know that."

The was a little silence, then Nick turned to Judy again after he saw the desert sand begin to fade away, the ground becoming dirt and rocks,

"Um.. How many siblings do you have? If all those little bunnies belonged to your family.." Nick asked

"297.. Maybe 298, all those kids that were climbing on you are my brothers and sisters." She chuckled as Nick chuckled with her.

"So… if you don't mind me asking.. how long have you been doing this- this cop stuff?" Nick asks, figuring talking would keep him calm, "Well… I've always wanted to be a police officer, probably started that dream when I was 9. I went through training a couple years later and was the top of my class." Judy explains, "Why do you ask?" "I was wondering, can't be easy, right?"

"Exact opposite, really, once you got to get your mindset into it."  
"I doubt I'd be able to put up with it." Nick chuckles,

"Yeah.. Everyone would say that to me, it was kind of a crazy dream. I wanted it despite what anyone said and I made it! Anyway, if you don't mind me asking, why did you build some sort of illegal theme park out the possibilities of Zootopia, couldn't have hurt going up and throwing your ideas out there?" Judy asks Nick who freezes uncomfortably, "Look, I only tell animals I trust on why I did what I did. Don't want to come off as rude, but that's a long story to tell anyone, and it makes me feel un-"

Judy held a paw up, "I get it, sorry. It still makes me wonder, but when you feel comfortable- if ever- I'm all ears." She grins, with Nick chuckling, "Trust me, I'm not lying when it comes that story, it's seriously long." Nick says, taking the sunglasses off, "I believe you Nick, it's just I'm actually having more interest in knowing you, I-"

A loud siren formed from behind them, and Judy looked in her back mirror, which both instantly picked up, "They found us, didn't they?" Nick asks, but Judy turned her head back around and focused, "Hang on!" She shouted as she stepped on the pedal, Nick holding on to whatever he could.

The more copper cars followed behind as Judy sped up, expecting a dangerous criminal in the car. Nick, who was the exact opposite, turned his head around, "How far away is your backup plan?!" he asked in a panicked tone, watching Judy, who suddenly turned the wheel, "NOW!" She shouted, Nick flew to the side and held on tighter, watching the desert sand disappear as they were now in a forest, a nature path to be precise, and drove on the bumpy road. Nick turned around again and saw less copper cars trying to follow, "This is crazy!" Nick shouted as he saw the path get more rough, "I know!" Judy shouts back as they started to reach what seemed a dead end, there was a gap in between the path, going down to a rough lake in front of a waterfall.

"You can't be serious?!" Nick exclaimed, watching as Judy pressed harder on the pedal, "Nick, just trust me!" Judy shouted.

Everything is telling him not to trust Judy, just bail out now. His brain was screaming in Nick's head, but at this time and place, he knew he just needed to trust Judy, if he bailed out now, who knows how much trouble he'll be in now, if he even lived.

The copper car they were in sped off the cliff and got air time, time feeling like it was slowing down as Nick watched the trees leaves rise, then fall back down to it's trunk as they landed, they made it!

The car shook down the fox and rabbit, both struggling not get any damage from hitting anything, and slowed down, the officers unable to continue on the other side, "I can't believed that worked!" Nick cheered loudly, Judy took a deep breath in and sighed in relief, "See.. you can trust me Nick.." She smiled. Nick finally took it all in, he trusted Judy, a prey, a police officer, he just trusted her now.

Everything turned out fine.. Nick was still ok. He smiled at the thought, relieved.

Of course, it wasn't going to stay that positive for that long, the copper car made 4 loud bursts and slowed to a stop. The two animals slowly looked at each other, and looked out their windows. Nick saw the front wheel on his side burst, and there was no doubt the one in the back was in the same condition, "Well.." Judy started, turning back to Nick, ".. I guess the wheels didn't handle the stress they were put under." She chuckled awkwardly, Nick nodding his head, "If you're going to look, do you-"

"Nah, I'm good, I don't think there's much to do, I'm just going to make sure that's the case." She says, starting to get out, "Wait here Nick." She says, closing the doors. Nick got comfortable until he heard radio static. He looked around in the copper car, confused until he saw a light blinking, grabbing Nick's attention,

" _Officer Hopps, do you copy?_ " The radio spoke, much to Nick's surprise, he then saw Judy picking her's up. He became interested in the conversation, "I copy, but I need a minute." She says, "It's been a while since I've heard from you-"

" _Look Judy, I don't have a lot of time, but I need to know where you're at so I know you are safe right now. Who knows what you've been through. You told me that you weren't sure if the fox was what you considered safe. Like you said, at this point, you are sure he's got your trust, and that's when you make your move. Hit him with the tranquilizer, and bring him here. Once you bring him back, I'm sure the ZPD will know you weren't part of the 'Savage's' plan, just doing Zootopia a good favor. Look.. foxes are pathetic fools, they are known for being nothing but low-life, lying scoundrels. Simply put like you said, untrustworthy, but the funny thing is that they fail to see the traps right in front of them.."_

Judy nodded and listened, commenting on everything the officer on the other end was saying. Unfortunately, what she didn't know is that the radio was connected to the copper's radio, allowing Nick to hear from both ends.

The radio made static again, and Nick sat there dumbfounded, astonished on what he just heard. He was just chopped liver for Judy to use so she could get back to her life! How did he not know that the entire time Judy never believed him?! His breathing increased in anger and looked at Judy's seat.

A tranquilizer gun was on the floor.

Nick unbuckled himself and opened the door as Judy was about to open the door and get back in, feeling truly betrayed. "Alright, I'm back- Nick?" Judy said and noticed Nick wasn't in the car. She looked at the radio and her ears drooped when she saw the radio light on, realizing Nick heard her conversation. Then Judy saw a very angry Nick running away.

"Oh no... Nick… Wait!"

…

Nick tore through the woods, growling in anger and sadness, he should've known that it was a trick! She was a bunny, a natural enemy!

Nick shoved more branches away, some hitting the back of his head and groaning more, rubbing salt in the wound. He shoved one more branch away, unaware that one snagged onto the back of his collar and jolted him back, losing some of his breath as he struggled to shove the stupid thing off of him. He let out an angry yelp as he slowly broke down, trying to hold back tears.

"Nick?" A voice came from behind him, it was obvious who it was. Judy.

"Go away!" Nick snarls, the collar close to shocking him, slowly looking back at her, "Nick! Please let me explain!"

"I said go away!"

"It happened before I even-"

Nick held the tranquilizer gun that was in the copper car, aiming it at Judy, "Don't you dare, you liar!"

"Nick.. Please let-"

"I can't **believe** I trusted you! After all that time I thought that I could trust somebody who wasn't a predator, heck, a cop!"

"Nick! Snap out of it and give me the tranquilizer gun, that is an order!"

"Order?!" Nick stood astonished, "I shouldn't have to take orders from you, no.. never.. A bunny cop? What a joke! I shouldn't be worried with a bunny, the **fox** is supposed to chase the stupid bunny! A-and you know what you should do, you should go back to your stupid farm far away from Zootopia and be a carrot-farmer, _because that's what you are and just meant to b-_ "

Nick stopped himself, eyes widened and shocked at his own comment as Judy's mouth hung open from shock and fear. Did he just really say that?

"Get away from me!" Nick shouted again as he ran off, quicker and swifter this time, leaving Judy far behind from him.

…

Nick trashed through more of the woods, trying to cover his tracks, he lost all his hope in Zootopia, there was nothing for him, " _I don't belong anywhere."_ Nick thought to himself as he realized he reached the peak of the mountain, giving a glorious view of the Zootopia city with the beautiful sky starting to fade into night.

How disgusting.

"I'm sorry that I'm just a _fox_!" Nick screamed at the city, he was beyond upset now, looking at the gun and tossing it far away with a loud and long grunt, before leaning over the guardrail for the nature hike path.

Slowly, his anger started to make him whimper, slowly forming tears in his eyes, before collapsing against the railing, crying. He hadn't cried in a long time, but it felt like he recently did, he couldn't hide in his pain anymore.

"I don't belong anywhere.." He whimpered through his tears.

…

…

…

He didn't know how long he was there, maybe it was shorter than he thought, because Judy slowly came up to him and saw him against the railing, walking to him, but keeping a distance, "Nick...?"

Nick lifted his head and shoulders up, and wiped away his tears, "You don't stop, do you?" He said coldly, voice also cracking, he had no passion on being kind anymore, and Judy could tell, "Nick.. Please let me explain, just once." She pleads, trying to get the upset fox to listen.

"After we went over the waterfall, back at the Rainforest, I had a moral issue. From when I was a child, I was told predators were nothing but dangerous and selfish. Yet.. You saved me that night, you had no reason to, heck, you had reasons not to do it, and you still did it. You were so gentle with my younger siblings, even when you were uncomfortable with them, and you saved me yet _again_ after I threw you into a terrible idea." Judy starts, "But back to the point… After we went over the waterfall, I tried radioing for any kind of help, but the knob was broken.." She held out the radio, the knob was completely busted, "..and it was stuck on one officer in resources was able to help me. He then gave me that plan that you heard, and I gave up on after you bought me to Kozlov, I learned so much about you, and that I knew absolutely nothing about you at the same time, if that makes sense..."

Nick didn't move one bit, the thing is that whole story made sense, but he was still mad at her, Judy got closer, "I wish I knew, I wish I understood predators, you aren't bad as I was told. I always thought predators got the same chances, but that doesn't seem true anymore. I don't expect you to forgive me, but now I'm finally starting to get it, I called you awful things, you aren't what I said, you are determined, humble, and resilient to achieve your goal, and even if it was illegal, your heart is in the right place." Judy finished her apology, "Nick, I'm sorry, I was wrong."

Nick slowly turns his head to the bunny, now she seemed all fragile, her words were real, you couldn't fake that.

"Nick, I still need to know.. Why did you make the amusement park, why did you go through all that trouble?"

Nick turned his head away and looked down, "…There's no point in acting moody… Like I said earlier to you, it's a very long story, and if what you're saying is true, then you'd better listen carefully, I don't like talking about it.." Nick said, sighing as Judy got closer and leaned against the railing next to Nick, her ears perked up and listening.

"And like I said to you in the car, I want to get along with you. Please tell me, Nick…"

"…Ok… So when I was a lot younger… probably 14…"

* * *

 **Oh boy, this wasn't an easy chapter to write, not sure if that plot twist came out as effective as I hoped it be, but I'd think thats what would happen. Anyway, after multiple rewrites of this chapter, I think this is working out so far.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok, so I meant to use a "-" to show a flashback, but the editor is not cooperating so line breaks in the middle of the story are now the indicator for a flashback. Anyway, back to the story, this is a long chapter!**

* * *

 **Many Years Ago…**

A young Nick was playing with a toy train and listening to his mother talk. He was a little sneaky as a kit, always putting his nose in other's business, but at least he kept it to himself, it was even worse to run around and tell other animal's secrets.

He wasn't too sure what she was saying, but sounded upset. A deep voice was talking to her, but he knew it wasn't his father, who was gone. His father had a lighter tone, and even when he was angry at his mother, he wasn't rude-sounding. He heard the door close and got up, peering around the corner.

His mother rubbed her neck and turned around, seeing the younger Nick. She knew he had already gone through so much, the Ranger Scouts, the loss of his father, she didn't want to show Nick what he had to be given.

She had to, if she didn't, it was only going to hurt them both in the longer run.

She kneeled down with warm smile on her face, Nick shortly walking over to her, seeing her comforting smile. She took the box and opened it, revealing a small shock collar, it was very weak and somewhat stretchy. His mother took the collar and rubbed his head, assuring him everything was alright, wrapping the small collar over his neck, gently and with care, clicking it into place. He rubbed his neck as he looked at her in confusion, why was she so upset with the gift she gave him?

She closed her eyes and hugged him, Nick was a little surprised and confused, but he hugged her back, "Nicolas, do you remember what your father said to you when you were nine?"

Nick blinked and looked at her, "Um… You are always more than what they see?" Nick tried to remember, it was a long time for him, but his mother smiled, "Yes, that is correct, and I want you to remember that, and what I'm going to say." she says with Nick looking at her closely,

"Whatever dream you have, keep it, don't let it go. Don't let anybody get to you. Let the world see who you really are."

Nick nodded, listening very carefully, he liked that. It was in sync with his father's advice, he was always in sync with his mother.

He did have a little dream in mind, but just wasn't sure what or how to say it to his mother now.

 **A Couple of Years After..**

"Hey mom! I'm back, I just wanted to say-" A much older Nick came through the door, wearing a white collared shirt and black tie with black pants. It was probably 6 years ever since he came back from college, and he wanted to celebrate with his mother, but he could not find her.

"Mom?"

…

Nick's search became more frantic, he just _could not find her_! He searched every nook, every cranny, every secret part of the old house, everywhere!

Nick sat in silence, now his mother was gone, just like his father, gone without a trace. But he just wasn't going to stop what his plans, his parents would've told him to keep going and not worry about them.

But he was going to make sure he had memories of his entire family, keep the name alive. He took pictures, his mother's jewelry, his grandparents wedding rings, a special hat. There was one thing he could fit, so he went into his parents closet, looking at the suits that belonged to his father.

Nick stood in front of the mirror as he buttoned up his suit, a blueish black suit and tied up a nice black tie. He stared into the mirror, looking at himself, his eyes begging to water up, but Nick did not want to cry, there was no point in crying. He wanted to cry though, he knew exactly why.

He looked just like his father.

…

Nick looked through the train's window with his paws gripping tightly onto his briefcase, he was very nervous, but excited! He saw the glorious city of Zootopia, filled with wonder and hope, and he was going to make his dream come true, stopping at nothing!

The train reached it's stop as the animals stumbled and waddled off in the crowded train exit, each going to their homes or business. Nick on the other hand jumped out, taking in each sight and remembering them. He was at the entry of Zootopia, filled with flashy signs and billboards.

"This is it." Nick muttered to himself, holding up a piece of laminated paper from his bag. The paper had a skillful design of what Nick had come for Zootopia.

Creating the amusement park of his dreams, for all predators and prey alike, Wild Times.

…

Nick looked at the list he printed out as he looked at the first name on his list, the building was matched the name, exactly what Nick was looking for.

Nick entered inside the tall, grey building, looking around and seeing the cleanness and intense care as he walked up to the front desk, who eyed him, "What can I do for you?" The armadillo said dryly, "I'm Nicholas Wilde, I'm here to present today? For Mr.-" Nick started, but she pointed to the elevator, "Over there, go to the top floor and have a seat there." She glared, Nick walking away uncomfortably.

Nick entered the elevator, which went up slowly, no music playing either. It slowly bounced Nick up, indicating he reached the top floor and looked at the seats, they were all filled with prey, and they were staring at him.

Nick ignored them and took a seat, which the surrounding prey moved away a little, probably in disgust or fear, maybe both.

A zebra walked out the door, with a clipboard with her, looking down and calling the first name. Nick sat up, remembering his father's presentation techniques, look presentable and know when you are going to be called. Nick had the look down and he knew he'd be the 15th presenter called down.

Of course, this went from minutes to a couple hours, the animal in front of him, a pig, was just coming out. The zebra came out and looked at the next presenter, which she was immediately disgusted by. She called up the beaver that was after Nick, much to his surprise and looked in confusion. He wasn't going to give up though, he remained sitting, waiting to be called.

…

It was almost night time now, and Nick saw the zebra come out again, finishing with a moose. The zebra looked at Nick again and frowned, walking over to him.

Nick smiled and started to get up but the zebra bent over to him, "We don't need your kind here, did you not get the hint? Get out." She said coldly, surprising Nick. He got up, confused, adjusting his tie and walking fast, frequently looking behind him before getting on the elevator.

Nick ran out into the street, it was late and was hungry, so he found a fast food place and ate, then walked back to his apartment, and remained optimistic, he was going to find somebody to bring his dream to life, no matter how long it took. No matter, what anybody thought of him.

…

Nick walked out of the big building, dejected, and was confused. Why was he not given a chance? He shook his head and walked away from the building. He crossed off the next business name on his paper, which was slowly becoming a bunch of lines. It was growing to be a repeat of his first attempt, with some minor changes.

He walked to his self-made shelter in an alley. He was running low on cash, and he decided to leave his apartment, just so he could keep himself fed. Hey, whatever worked, he took the opportunity. The self made shelter was nothing but a couple of blankets, a pillow and that was pretty much it.

He looked across the street and saw something strange, a fat cheetah talking to a small fox, before looking around and disappearing. Nick thought nothing of it and returned to his list.

A couple of minutes later, he saw the cheetah with the fox, wearing a footie pajama and walking into the ice cream shop. Nick looked in confusion and made his way over, suspicious. The door was huge, and Nick couldn't reach it, so he decided to look through the window, seeing the cheetah grasping a large popsicle and grabbing the small fox's hand, leaving the building.

Nick shook his head, why was he getting involved with this? He knew better. He started to walk away until he ran into a big red ice cube. He stumbled back and looked in front of him, holding his muzzle, "O, M, Goodness! I'm so sorry, sir!" He heard, noticing it was the same cheetah, holding onto the popsicle and the smaller fox, who was wearing an entire elephant costume. Nick shook his head and smiled, "Nah, don't worry, I'm fine." He says, with the cheetah relaxing, "That is a huge popsicle." He commented, with the cheetah grinning, "Yeah, it's for my son." He says, with Nick's eyebrows raising, the cheetah noticing.

"I know what you are thinking, he's adopted, poor child lost his mother a few years ago, and I decided to take care of him." He smiled, with Nick understanding and nodding, "Ah, I should've known." He says, as the smaller fox tugged on the cheetah's pants, "Ah, we got to go! Sorry to bother you…?"

"Nick, Nicholas Wilde."

"Ah! I'm Benjamin Clawhauster!"

Nick shook the cheetah's free paw, "Well, I'll let you get onto your day, good bye." He grins, waving, "It was nice meeting you!" He heard Ben say, as they walked away.

…

Nick wandered through the streets, trying to learn them, directions wasn't his strength. He looked at the map again, confused. He walked past a bunch of animals as he crossed the street, sitting down at a shop's building as he tried to figure out the map. He was lost, again, and he was growing a bit frustrated with the map, finding out that it was _5_ years old.

He heard loud music and looked up, a van with some weird design was on it (probably an album cover), and it looked pretty old. The van wasn't making him stare though, it was the driver.

He could've sworn he saw the driver somewhere, and he started driving away, making Nick stealthily follow behind the van on foot.

He followed this van to a bank, which was filled with many intelligent animals entering and leaving. Nick stood on the other side of the street in confusion, trying to figure out the driver from the van. He looked around, "Where'd they go…?" He muttered to himself.

Shortly a bell rung, and multiple animals came out of the building, a bunch of hamsters walking in a line.

"Pawsicles! Come and get your Pawsicles!"

Nick turned around in surprised, he recognized the voice, it was Ben Clawhauster! He watched as he gave the pop- er, Pawsicles- to each hamster, which quickly chewed up the frozen treat, before tossing the sticks into the trash.

Nick watched in surprise, the fact that they just got a giant popsicle wasn't any coincidence, it was obviously melted down and refreezed so they could resell it!

He watched Clawhauster gather up the sticks and get back to the van, Nick followed after it yet again.

…

Nick peered behind the alley, trying to make out who was in the van, and much to his surprise, the _cheetah_ that he ran into was coming out of the passenger's side. "How did we do, Finnick?" Ben asked,

"We did better than we thought!" A deep voice came from the small fox- which seemed off- splitting up cash with Ben. Nick shook his head, he should've known, it was a _fennec_ disguised as a little fox kit. How pathetic!

The two were splitting up cash, and there was a lot of it, and he knew where they got the money. Ben looked up, causing Nick to hide behind the corner again and making Finnick look behind him, noticing Nick, "Hey! I know some low-life is watching us! What are you gonna do, buddy?" He threatened, making Nick roll his eyes,

"I just think what you two did was just disgusting." Nick said, popping out of the corner, both recognizing him instantly, "How did you even do what you did with that popsicle?" Nick growls, trying not to show any fear, it was working on the cheetah, not the fennec though. "Disgusting or not, it worked, welcome to Zootopia." He growls, "Get lost."

"Why, you think I'll call the cops on you?"

"They'd arrest you with us."

"What..?"

The fennec groaned, "So I was right, you are new to Zootopia. They call this a utopian city where prey and predators get along in harmony- that's a beautiful lie." Finnick growled. The fox shook his head as the fennec kept ranting, so Nick knew Finnick wasn't giving anything, so he tried Ben to make a confession, "So.. Ben, how's the popsicle for little kit?" He said with a sly grin, "What.. Um-"

"Yeah, I heard they are really good, but could he really eat that entire frozen treat?"

"Urr-"

"Would be a real shame if that was for all of it to go to waste, poor k-"

"It's not like wemeltitdowninTundraTownbyusingFinnicksfeetastheprintandresellthemtootheranimals!"

Clawhauster slapped his paws over his mouth, Finnick growling, "Oh, great! You just told him everything! Why don't you tell him my full name while you're at it!"

Nick turned and looked at the angry fennec, his anger was reasonable, and he was getting the idea. He hated that he had to use this to his advantage, but he was going to have to anyway,

"Ok look…" Nick starts, "… I won't say a word about whatever you guys are doing… If you give me a place to sleep." Nick demands, the fennec growling, "Blackmail, eh? Well, if that's you're only condition, the van is right there, that's where we sleep." He says crossing his arms.

Nick sighed and took the offer, even if it meant sleeping on a dirty carpet with a hard pillow. Anything was better than the streets.

…

The day faded into night, much to Nick's disappointment, he was still getting nowhere he wanted to go, but at least he had some sort of roof over his head.

Finnick was conked out in the passenger's seat because he could fit there comfortably, while Clawhauster and Nick were in the back, not as much comfy, "So… Why are you in Zootopia?" Clawhauster asks Nick as he tried to settle in. Nick shrugged and shook his head, "Nah, nothing that I'd think you'd be interested in." He says, but Clawhauster wanted more information about Nick.

Nick pulled out the laminated poster he had in his bag, and handed it to Clawhauster, "It's the amusement park I wanted to make, it's called Wild Times." Nick grins, as Clawhauster scanned the image, "Wow… That is probably one of the most coolest things I've seen, and it's very well drawn! It looks real!" Clawhauster exclaims, with Nick shrugging, "Thanks, the whole idea I had behind it is that prey and predators would coexist with ea-"

He was suddenly interrupted by a big laugh, coming from the passenger's seat, "Ah ah.. You gotta be _joking_!" Finnick laughed, as Nick snatched the poster away from Clawhauster, annoyed, "Better than being a hustler for your entire life!" Nick snaps at him, making Finnick pop out in the middle, "Lookie here, Nick, I'll be honest, I think it's a pleasant dream, but I feel like you don't understand Zootopia, prey and predators are split even if you make them coexist. To put it short, I'll save the story, prey don't like predators, and us predators get nothing."

"Maybe if-"

"Maybe if we try to show we ain't bad- don't you think we've tried that? There is nothing we haven't tried!"

Nick stopped talking and turned around, frustrated, and set up a place to lie down and sleep. He heard Clawhauster jolt up (by the van creaking by his weight) and constantly call out Finnick's name, talking to him excitingly, then Clawhauster nudged Nick. Nick was not too pleased and sat up, "What?" He says, rubbing his eyes, "So, if you are really dedicated to that dream, I know an abandoned place that's pretty big, pretty sure we-" Finnick started, "Legal?" Nick says, stopping the fennec mid sentence, "Well, no-" "Then no, I'm going to do this legally, I'm not going to become a criminal and soil my family name, all of them were good, and I'm not g-"

" _ **Hey! Get off of me!**_ "

All three predators jolted up from the noise, Finnick arming himself with a metal baseball bat as Nick slowly opened the van's doors, jumping out.

The three ran out and when searching, hearing more commotion coming outside of the alley they were in. Nick ran out in front of the other two and saw a scene, a robbery in progress.

A honey badger was struggling to get her purse back by some oryx, taking advantage of her collar and snatching it away, "Hey!" Nick shouted out, running up the the oryx and grabbing the purse.

There was a short struggle and Nick tried pulling it away, trying to help this poor animal from some prey taking advantage of the-

 _ **Zap!**_

 _Collar._

Nick jolted from the shock, bending over from the pain, and the oryx gave a direct kick into the fox's rib cage, knocking him away onto the ground, hurting him some more. To add insult to injury, he got away with the purse.

"Coward!" The badger shouted, then turning around to the curled up fox on the ground, "Sir.. are you alright… sir?" She asks, Nick slowly getting back up on all fours, Clawhauster was on one knee at Nick's side as Finnick stood in front of him, both watching him. Nick had an expression he hadn't had in a long time, an angry one, beyond angry.

"Finnick." He said, the fennec looking at the fox with surprise, "Take me to the place."

…

Nick looked at the large building, somewhat surprised by the massive size, "Well, this used to be a greenhouse, but they abandoned it in favor of a better location, this place is kind of hidden, despite the size." Finnick explained as he busted the lock open. Nick opened the doors and walked in, interested, his mind solely focused on one thing, how he was going to make this place his amusement park.

The next set of doors were opened, and the outside area had a great field… and that was it. There was a lot of room to work with, beyond what Nick really needed, and he walked in front of Finnick and Clawhauster, nodding with determination, setting down his bag and briefcase.

"If you want to get something done.. better do it yourself."

Nick looked around, examining everything and looking at his sketch of Wild Times, he knew what he could and couldn't do. That was fine, he just needed some way of getting money.

"What are you guys doing?" A voice came out, but it sound familiar, Nick turned around to see the same honey badger that he tried to save, "Ask him," Finnick pointed to Nick, "He's the one with the crazy idea." He says, with the badger going to Nick.

Nick explained to the badger his idea and vision, which got her attention, "Problem is though, without funds being given, I can't start it." Nick says, which makes the badger perk up, "I can give you some money, I owe you for trying to help." She says, which Nick denied, "No, I don't even know your name.." She stood in front of him, and cuffed her paws around his ear as she looked around, "My name is Honey Badger, oh, and I'm whispering so the Sheep Uprising doesn't hear.." She said, smiling. Nick ignoring the last comment after hearing her name.

Finnick groaned, "Oh come on! You can't be serious, you two are going to make a full functional theme park!?" He said, Nick glaring, "Besides, woman, didn't you _just_ lose your purse?"

Honey glared and intimidated his size, "Actually, I don't carry any cash in there, and it had just a cancelled credit card, nothing important lost." She grinned, "So anyway, you should help him, isn't he your friend?"

Clawhauster said yes, Finnick said no.

Nick glared, "Look Finnick, if you help me, I'll give you a price cut, anybody who helps me gets a cut of the price, alright?" Nick says, Finnick looking at Nick, but the fox knew the fennec was interested now. Nick turned back to the open grassy area of land, it was going to become a great thing.

…

Needless to say, after a couple of weeks, which were long and demanding, Wild Times slowly grew to a small amusement park, two wooden rides that were fully functional and some non-ride attractions, like a pool and small playground. Nick painted the whole park by himself, everything slowly becoming his vision, and his designs surprised even Finnick. Lastly, there was one last building left, it was the main office, meant for Nick, he would be able to supervise and make sure his park was ok.

He still felt off, but he tried shaking off the feeling, this was the best he was going to get, and he was going to put up with it. He then turned to his newly built office, realizing something, he could not fulfill the dream he promised himself when 14.

* * *

Judy listen with extreme interest on Nick's story, and stood surprised by the whole story. Judy watched Nick held a paw to his face, clearly thinking hard, "Nick.. I never knew.." Judy started, but watched Nick looking at the far distance, "…Nick?"

"Hey Nick, we finished up, you heading home?" Finnick asked as he watched Nick painting a sign, "Whatcha got there, man?"

Nick didn't respond back, he took the sign and walked out of the whole theme park. The other predators followed behind him, confused. He looked around the entrance of the disguised building, walking up to the front of the grass, hammering the sign to the ground, not speaking a single word, and walked away, clearly upset. The rest walked to the front of the sign, getting a look, and they could see why Nick wasn't responding, his dream changed from what he told them.

' _NO PREY ALLOWED'_

* * *

Judy looked at Nick again, who was trying not to cry again, he was very tense, very discouraged. She didn't know what to say, if she could say anything at all. All this time, Nick was always a victim, never a criminal.

Nick shook his head and broke the silence, "That's how bad it's been. I started with a goal of creating a little world where all animals, predators and prey alike, could have fun and relax. The reality is, that only prey get it, they get everything. Predators get nothing, and we can't do a thing about it. Now I've heard my park is closed, my friends and everyone else who I met and trust me, are probably terrified, that was the last place they could turn to."

"Now I understand you.. I wish I knew that so long ago.." Judy assures Nick, putting a paw on his, "We need to prove it to the rest of the world! If we can convince the mayor, then we can clear our name." Judy says, with a soft smile, but Nick wasn't having it, he nudged her paw away.

Judy took a deep breath, thinking hard and debating, then she turned her head to Nick again, "Nick, can I tell you why I acted like I did, from when I first met you?" Judy asks, Nick not moving his head, but he was interested, it would give him closure.

"Well, I told you how I wanted to become a police officer when I was 9? Well, nobody took me seriously at the time, and I hated that they did. So when I was playing with my friends at the fair, this bully… um… a fox…"

Nick looked at Judy, he knew where this was going,

"I demanded that he give my friends back their tickets, and he shoved me down, trying not to seem intimidated. So, when I was on the ground, I kicked him, and that pushed him into scratching my cheek.."

Judy rubbed her fur away, showing the scar, Nick remembered that he felt it,

"Well, he ran off with his friend, and I got angry at what he did, so I tracked him down shortly after.. and well, when I found him, I attacked him.."

Judy's ears drooped, looking ashamed of what she did,

"What I did was horrible, yes, he was a bully, but I shouldn't have done what I did.. I got him angry, all riled up, and then I made his collar activate, then kicked him to the ground mid-shock. He was crying, I took the tickets and hit him again, calling him 'good-for-nothing'…"

Judy looked away as Nick listened, more and more, Judy not willing to share anymore,

"Nick, I don't deserve to be a cop, have this badge. I hurt innocent predators, I refused to understand, I failed to do what I wanted to do. Make the world a better place.."

Judy looked at the broken Nick, she never knew what she really was like, and now she knew. Nick stared at her, silence coming back again, so Nick decided to break it again, "Thank you for telling me, Hopps. It's nice to hear a reason for a change. I guess if I was you, I'd probably do the same, childhood memories can be both wonderful and scary." He said, Judy looking at his collar, her gaze focusing on it.

"Still, I want to fix things, Nick.. I need your help to get us back to the mayor, I'll convince him to get rid of your collar, and I'll make sure you get that park back." Nick looked at her, coming with a realization, "I appreciate what you want to do to help me, but I doubt we can just convince him, he's a puppet, he's the one who gave us these collars, despite being a predator himself." Nick says, slowly mending back from his broken state, "You're right, geez, it's like you'd need some crazy conspiracy to convince him." Judy plops down, trying to think.

Nick suddenly jolted up, "Conspiracy… conspiracy theory.. Hopps!" Nick swings his head to her, "My friends that I mentioned can help us!" Nick says excited, Judy looks at him, "Wait.. what do you mean?"

"Well, my friend is heavy into the nonsense of conspiracy theories! If we get back to her house, maybe she'll help us find this guy!" Nick says excited, Judy perking her ears back up, "Do you really think so?" Judy asked, but she was secretly already on board with the idea.

"I just have one condition if I take you to my friends.." Nick says, looking serious, Judy listening very carefully, "If this whole idea works, if we expose the 'Savage', you _have_ get these collars banned, never have them come back, no exceptions." Nick says, as if rehearsed.

Judy stood and stared at Nick, it was a big demand, and from what she heard, she would want to do that, but how could she convince the rest of the city to do so, "Nick, while I'd like to do that, I think the best I think I can do is just yours, you were framed an-"

"Then I can't take you to my friends. Heck, I'd rather keep mine and see the rest of the predators free."

Nick's words were smooth and prepared, compared to Judy's roughness and unready. Judy shook her head, "No.. that's not who I am, I don't give up, Nick. I will get those collars banned, I will get you cleared, I will let you get a chance again. I'll personally see those collars get destroyed when I get them all off." Judy says, tearing the radio off of her uniform and tossing it far away into the wilderness,

"Then let's do it, Judy." He smiled, Judy, nodding and starting to head into the forest, "Wait, we still have no car, and who knows how long it'll take for us to get there on foot." Nick remembers, Judy stopping instantly, "Right, no car…. No.. wait, hang on!" Judy says, growing excited, running back to the handrails, looking at the tracks going to the city, "There's a train!" Judy says, excited, leaving Nick confused.

"I thought we were trying to hide?" He asks, with Judy hopping down, "I forgot! I bought you to my house through the same train… we can back to Zootopia undetected, it just moves cargo and farming equipment! There are practically no other animals there!" Judy says, her paw out to Nick's, "We have to hurry though, if we don't make it, we'll miss it!"

Nick realized that Judy was waiting for his permission to be touched, trying to be respectful to him. He grinned and took her paw which she started running at full speed, Nick struggling to keep up.

Nick was excited though, it was time, a prey animal was intent on making sure these collars would be removed, allowing the predators to be free. Best thing about it? This prey would never give up.

* * *

 **I have to say, the concept art of Wild Times itself looked great! Anyway, the usual R &R is great, thanks for all the feedback and support.**

 **I also made a tumblr page, wildetime, nothing there yet, but I'll end up getting around to adding some art stuff with it, though I can't draw, heh.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't think I'll be updating as quickly as I usually do (2-4 days) for the next few chapters because I'm still trying to work out the kinks on some of them, some scenes getting replaced and I just haven't gotten around to doing so. :P**

 **My writing perfectionist quality aside, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

Judy was running at full speed, holding tightly to Nick's paw, him trying to keep up. They were running away from the nature trail and past many trees, a somewhat dense forest.

A loud whistle blared as they both saw the train begin to go past them, not too quickly, but not slow enough for an easy boarding. Judy examined the train to it's caboose, and saw the train, realizing they were very close to missing it. She saw an open boxcar holding many bags of grain in it, with enough comfortable space inside it.

Nick was running as fast as he possibly could, his feet scrambling on the path as Judy looked back at him one more time, "Be ready to jump on 3!" She shouts, "1.."

They got closer to a rocky edge, "2.."

"What?!" Nick finally responded, "3!"

Judy jumped high with Nick hopping with her, not as high or prepared as Judy's, they glided through the air, Judy guided them through the air and aimed at an open car, crash-landing inside it as the two animals let go, Nick rolling inside the train and catching himself on the wall on the other side, Judy getting straight back onto her feet.

Nick turned in excitement, "You did it! We made it on!" He laughed, mostly from shock, as Judy extended her paw again to help Nick sit up, "Heh, that was pretty lucky, we barely made it." She said, looking outside the door, seeing the darkness slowly swallow up the afternoon forest, hearing Nick yawn.

Nick rubbed his eyes as Judy sat down at the opening, leaning against a wall to look outside, "You know, it's probably been a whole day since we last slept… If you want to get some rest, go ahead." Judy smiled, Nick blinking, "You sure? I mean, shouldn't you get some sleep too?"

"Nah, I've trained for stuff like this, go ahead and rest. I'll keep watch, just to be safe." She said, still smiling as Nick nodded. He looked around for something to use as a pillow, taking a bag of grain and "fluffing" it, before he rested his head on the bag, curling up and huddling his tail, falling into a pleasant sleep.

…

Hours passed, turning the gorgeous sunset sky into a starry night as Judy watched the forest they were in fading into the distance, the memory of a broken Nick etched into her mind. She turned away from the large opening and got a safe distance away, looking at the sleeping fox, still huddled up in his own tail. She gave a soft smile.

Judy was secretly jealous, but she knew Nick needed the rest, he was not built for this kind of action. She chuckled at the comments she was called when younger, that a small body like her's would get easily worn out, they were beyond wrong.

She still thought hard about her prejudices against predators, she never realized how wrong she really was about these animals. If they were similar to Nick, then she'd truly regret her actions, change, and let them be free. Feel like they really belong to Zootopia.

Could she really though? Nick said that he'd only help if the collars were removed, but she wasn't sure if it was possible. Years of damage to the predators would probably lead them to lots of anger, and prey would constantly be terrified, even if preds showed no danger.

She shook her head, she made a promise, and she kept her promises. Zootopia was a city worth saving. It opened up opportunities, it let animals learn that they were just meant for something. If the collars were removed, it would probably make the city shine bright. This time, with a real brightness coming from it.

he stared at Nick again, his story flooding her memories. The long, depressing story was all built inside of him, and he remembered almost everything that happened. She could barely remember her teenage years, and she was surprised by the fact that he was willing to remember, just remember who he was, who he belonged to. That he was just simply like her in some ways.

She did remember that Nick loved his mother (and most likely his father, too) and that she was so set on becoming a police officer is that she pushed away her family, probably ignored them for a year. Then when the year was over, she went back and contacted them. Some of her siblings didn't recognize her at first.

Then there was the whole amusement park thing, she barely got a good look inside of it, but based off of how Nick described it, he had a passion for it. He had the idea, and never left anybody he was friends with or his family. She originally thought it was a place for criminals to hang out, probably found out a way to remove the collars and have a good time, but that was beyond wrong.

She nodded off a little bit and instantly shook her head again, standing up and examining the car, despite it being dark.

She saw Nick, still curled up peacefully. She saw bags of grain, nothing special, but then one nudged a bit, much to Judy's surprise. She blamed it on her sleepiness, but saw the bags move again. She knew she didn't have her tranquilizer on her- first one was stolen, the other thrown into the wilderness by Nick- that one being reasonable- so that only left her combat skills if the danger arises.

There was a small figure that peeked out the bags, peaking at Judy, before it hid back in the bags. Judy slowly walked forward to the location, arms readied for any sudden attacks. She started to peer over the bags.

The figure ran past her, stealing her handcuffs, and before she knew it, her paw was handcuffed to the weight connected to the bags and watched as the figure made his way to Nick, holding a sharp needle, Judy unable to identify what it was.

"NICK! Wake up!" Judy cried out, the fox jolting awake, looking up in surprise as he saw the figure try to jab him in the arm. Nick scrambled away, trying to get away from whoever the figure was, while Judy tried to free herself from the weight. The figure got closer to Nick, who shoved the figure away, he was trying to keep calm, if he got too nervous, the collar would activate, and this was literally _the worst moment_ it could happen to him.

Judy used her free paw to locate her keys, which was on her waistband and finally grabbed the keys, trying to connect it with the keyhole, and unlocked the handcuffs.

Nick crawled backwards, back down as the figure intimidated his size, the sun was coming up, bringing light to the car, and Nick suddenly got a look at the attacker's face.

It was a ferret, and what struck the most to Nick was the heavy-duty collar, much larger and seemingly heavier, and the fearful expression on his face. He lifted up the needle again, mouthing the words "I'm sorry." and prepared to stab him again in the arm.

He then jolted forward and fell out of the train, thanks to Judy dropkicking him in the back. She helped Nick get up, who turned around in surprise, "T-thank you… Do you think…" Nick began to ask, "He should be fine, we just reached ground again and he couldn't get too hurt from getting launched out of this train.." Judy replied, but Nick shook his head, "No.. That wasn't my question.. I saw his face.. and his collar.. they both made me feel like he was forced to do it.." Nick said, examining the needle the ferret dropped.

Judy looked at the needle, "There was no way he could've gotten this kind of needle unless he had access to.. this looks really secret, I don't even know what it is.." She says, sitting down, Nick doing the same after.

...

The two sat awkwardly. Trying to recap the whole situation, then they looked at each other again, "So.." Judy shrugged, "Can I ask you some things, about predators?" She asked, with Nick turning his head, "What kind of questions?" He replied back.

"Just wondering, how do you guys put up with us? How do you keep thriving and try to get to where we are?"

"You know, these collars haven't been around forever.."

Both chuckled awkwardly.

"I know.. But based on what you told me, what did you guys to get jobs, support each other, the.. Well, insults, we constantly give you?"

Nick took a minute to think.

"Well, I guess we just decided to put up with the fact that there was going to be an imbalance. I mean, I bet that if history was alternated, no one would take prey seriously and I'd be the bad guy."  
"Yeah, but we've evolved from what we were, we had some ways that were quite horrible."  
"Prey included?"  
"Prey included."

Nick and Judy looked at each other more, until Nick took a deep breath,

"Also, on the question about jobs, well, predators just ended up self-employing themselves and owning their own businesses, even if they have no clue what to do. So they end up helping each other, they make their own money and spend it for other predators to have."

"Is it enough?"  
"For me, yes, it was, but my roommate, did I already tell you her name?"  
"It was Honey, right?"  
"Yeah, it is, anyway, she actually has a journalist job. Being in the news is probably the only job that can include preds and prey, mostly because it's easy to separate and create a false message of harmony."  
"False sense of harmony?"

Nick looked up, seeing the large signs advertising, indictating they were getting close to Zootopia.

"You see the sign, the ZNN sign with the moose and snow lepoard?"

"Yeah?"  
"I have never seen them together in the same room when they do the news, but the ZNN makes it look like they get along with no problem, that's what I mean."  
"Ah.. I see."  
"Any pred police officers?"

Judy looked at Nick again,

"What?"  
"Any predator police officers?"

"Oh.. No, we don't."  
"Yeah, I was thinking there wasn't. The police station didn't have any preds when I was in jail."  
"Why do you ask?"  
"I was wondering if you knew yourself?"  
"I do now."

Judy looked down, Nick looked back up at the sunrise stained sky,

"Nick.."

Nick turned his head at Judy, who was still looking down,

"Thank you for forgiving me. I'm still sorry for what I said to you when we first met."

Nick looked at her with a soft gaze, his paw raised up and placed it on her shoulder, showing he understood.

She looked at his paw, and brushed it away, "I'm all good Nick." She said in a soft whisper.

Nick looked up, seeing buildings fly by as the sunrise grew,"Hey Judy, would you say now that our stop coming up?" He asks, with the rabbit looking ahead.

She nodded, looking at Nick again, smiling, "This is our stop, get ready to jump."

* * *

 **For those of you interested, one of the main things that I changed was Nick's connection to Kozlov. To what I gathered, Nick worked with Kozlov, which I personally don't think works, mostly because Nick's trying to prove to (the prey) he's not a bad guy that cheats and steals. So there's a little change there, and it also makes it more believable (at least to me) for Judy wanting to learn more about Nick.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Another long chapter that I ended up splitting in half. Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Nick and Judy finally made it back in the heart of Zootopia, hiding behind buildings in alleys. Judy searched the street for Finnick's van that Nick described, "I don't see it, are you sure it's here?" She asked Nick, who looked himself. He was sure Finnick was again near the elephant's ice cream shop, as much he stole from the shop, he found the deserts tasty and wanted to find a way to get it. Nick looked ahead, and saw the van with the design Finnick put on it, "Over there, let's hurry." Nick says as he looks across the street to run across.

A quick run through the street and hid in the next alley, letting Nick in front of the back doors of the van. He knocked on it a few times to get Finnick's attention.

" _WHAT?!"_ Finnick burst open the door and was holding his baseball bat, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Finnick, it's me, N-"  
"Nick?!" Finnick eased up on the bat, "Geez, I thought you were _dead_ , man!" He says, grinning until he saw Judy, "No offense, but I kinda expected someone taller from a voice like that." She says as her eyes looked at Finnick's short body, leaving him very offended, and pointed his bat at her, "What's this bi-" Nick covered his mouth in the middle of Finnick's sentence, eyes wide. "Look, she's helping us, I need to get to Honey's house, can you take us there?" Nick asks as Finnick holds a finger up, " _Frst omf al, gmt ymur fummk pm ofm omf mm_ _ **snomf**_!" He growls, Finnick finally getting Nick's paw off of him, " **Thank you** , I'll help you, get in Nick." He says, letting the fox and rabbit in the old van.

…

It was a pretty short drive to Honey's house, and it seemed like she secured the apartment even more than she did when Nick was still there. Nick walked up to the door with the other two following him, about to knock and stopped suddenly, pondering something. He knew Honey was going to be doing something crazy, for the past year he knew her, he had to say something if she would start overdoing it. With him being gone for about a few days, she must've done something.

He shook his head thought to himself for a second, and then started a series of knocks, which seemed to have a mix of patterns and random knocks, much to Judy's confusion, "Seriously? You had to do that?" Judy groaned, but Nick shrugged, "Like I said, she's kinda paranoid. I don't even know how-" Nick started, but he saw the curtain from the window next to the door open up, with an eye looking at him, then closing up again, then heard rapid unlocking from the multiple locks on the door,

"NICK!" Honey shouts out, bringing him into a big hug, "Hey, Honey.. You're squeezing my injury…" Nick stumbled around as he got into the house, Finnick jumping onto a table and Judy looking around. Honey let go when she saw the bandages still wrapped around Nick's stomach. "Oops! Sorry! My goodness, Nick, I thought you'd never come back! I thought that 'Savage' got you! Or worse, _those sheep_!" Honey cried out as Nick chuckled awkwardly, Judy raised her eyebrows, " _Sheep?_ " She thought to herself, " _Nick wasn't kidding, wow._ "

Nick saw a mirror across the room, he hadn't realized how different he looked. His fur was now a disaster, his shirt was still torn at the bottom, and he was getting small bags under his eyes from a lack of sleep, small ones at least.

He shook his head and refocused on Honey, "Well, I'm alright, um, before I ask for your help, this is Judy." Nick says, revealing Judy as she nodded and walked up to Honey, "Hello, how are you doing?" Judy asked Honey, trying to be polite, "Ready." Honey says, taking a step back, looking at Nick, "I know right, Honey? Nick bought back the same officer that framed him!" Finnick growled, the collar almost activating, Nick sighed and heard a bit of shuffling, turning around, seeing the entrance of the bunker- which was underneath the sink, hidden by curtains still- opening up, Clawhauster's head peeking up, surprised, "NICK!" He cried out, but saw Judy, " _Nick… there's a cop…. Run over here!"_ He whispered loudly, but Nick shook his head, "Before you guys do anything crazy, let me tell you why she's here." Nick says, calmly.

…

"I'm not buying any of that Nick." Finnick growls, looking over at Judy, who was looking around the home, "What part don't you believe Finnick?" Nick asks, trying to convince Finnick to trust Judy, "Everything but the rabbit." He growls. Nick sighed and Judy walked around the home, it seemed more than secured and kind of roomy. Honey and Clawhauster were talking to Nick. They trusted Nick, and if he would trust Judy, so would they, but Finnick was stubborn, he hated this rabbit that claimed to be helping Nick, he found it unbelievable that she'd want to help him. Judy shook her head, peeking inside another room. It appeared to be someone's bedroom, and Judy entered inside of it.

The rabbit scanned the room, it was messy, yet somehow organized, and it was filled with a lot of map sketches surrounding one big one the was amazingly well drawn, as if it was constantly refined. What caught Judy's eyes though, were the amount of canvases in the room, most were on the floor, some were hung, some were still on the stands. Judy looked at them with more interest, they were very good paintings, one with a very green hill with a fading rainbow, another with a bunch of grayness with color spreading through the center of the painting. Two kept her focus, however, the arm and paw holding a smashed collar and one that appeared to be a fox family. A small photograph was pinned on it's bottom right corner.

With the photograph, she turned her attention turned to a series of photos, each one with a photo of a fox, the photos growing older and older, until she reached one that was a painting rather than a photo. There was a green archer hat with a red feather coming out of it, lying near the painting, matching the fox's in the portrait.

"Can I help you?"

Judy's head swung around in surprise as she saw Nick leaning against the doorway, not looking too pleased, "Sorry, Nick, I was looking through the house and I guess wandered in here." Judy apologized, but Nick shook his head and came in, "Well, these are amazing paintings, did you make them?" Judy asks, with Nick grinning, "Well, I wouldn't consider them amazing, honestly, but yes, I made these," Nick replies, looking at them, mostly at the fox- or rather, his – family and sitting down in front of it, "Well, Kozlov was right, amateur is an understatement.." Judy grins, "It's a hobby I do to escape the world, I guess, it relaxes me." Nick shrugs, but Judy was eager for more, "Well, I think they are amazing, no matter what." Judy grins as she turns to the series of portraits, "Are they part of your family?" She asks as Nick looks at them.

Nick grinned, it's been a while since he looked at those portraits, "Yeah, they go from my father up to my many greats grandfather." He says, looking at the painted portrait, "Is it-" "The same hat? Yes, it is." Judy began, Nick answering for her, "Don't know too much about him, wish I did." Nick grins as he sits on his bed. "I think I may have heard of him, but based on what I was taught, I doubt it's the real story. After all this, "I'll go looking for the real story." Judy grins, making Nick look up.

"Geez, I was really wrong, everything looks so carefully crafted, well done, more than some professional prey artists… You are really good." Judy says, turning back to Nick, who was beginning to smile again.

Nick was about to thank Judy, but Clawhauster burst though the door, scaring them both.

"Hah.. Honey wants… you two.. to come to her, hah.. What you said is true!" He pants as Judy and Nick look at each other and ran over to Honey, checking out what she found.

…

Honey was hunched over an oldish computer and made multiple videos playing on it, "How did you get into the security cameras?!" Judy exclaimed, "Not important, Nick, this is where you get your tea, correct?" Honey starts rambling. Nick leaned over and gets a look in, "Yep, that's it." He says, calmly as he watches himself go in a come out shortly with the tea, usual time, "That's proof that you were there, but the crime happened at night, can you fast forward?" Judy asks, waiting for Honey to do so, but Finnick groaned, "You're helping he-?!" _**Zap!**_ "Gah!" Finnick began to snarl, but the collar shocked him, then he just muttered to himself.

Judy heard a lot of profane words, and ignored it. Nick turned around to look at the cranky fennec "Aha!" Judy exclaimed, grabbing Nick's attention again, as he watched the screen.

 _A ferret stumbled alongside carrying a bag, he seemed exhausted with a paranoid look on his face (though the quality wasn't sharp enough to tell exactly) and stopped, shaking his head and trying to run away. He then jolted to a stop, grabbing his collar and slamming onto the ground, before scrambling up to his feet and hiding in the bushes._

Judy looked confused, as did the rest, "A ferret? Is that the same one that attacked Nick?" Judy asks herself as she leaned in closer.

 _The jaguar that was attacked was on his phone and stopped to look across the street, his arm raised to call a taxi. The ferret reappeared, but he looked different, wearing a costume, looking like a fox! He creeped up to the jaguar, who didn't see him. Since it was night, the costume made him look very different, almost realistic, and he went up to attack!_

 _The jaguar seemed to be shocked and tried to fight back, the ferret swiped at him multiple times, which the victim tried to defend himself. After a short brawl, the collar on the jaguar activated and shocked him, bringing him to the ground as the ferret swiped him again and ran off._

The animals watching the cameras were surprised, "Why haven't we gone through these?" Judy exclaims, realizing, "This could've been solved much quicker if I just ran through them!" she sighs,

"Then you've would've arrested Nick! How dumb do you th-" _**Zap!**_ "OW! OH COME ON!" Finnick shouted and Honey groaned and turned around, "Will you stop? You're acting like a child, and you got the look down too." She says clearly and strongly, making Finnick cross his arms, pouting.

Honey turned back around, "I don't even think that would've worked, look, I can pull up multiple versions of this same clip, the one here is looped." Honey says, doing so, and Nick stood wide-eyed, "Geez, I think there's more than one involved, you know?" Nick shrugged, "How could he do it himself?" Nick asked, but Judy was staring away, thinking hard, " _Why did his collar activate.. running away doesn't activate it.._ " Judy ponders.

Of course, Judy was taking this with a grain of salt, she needed to know if Honey even found the right stuff. She thought about the needle that was going to used on Nick, but she knew nothing about that thing. A thought came to her and then perked her ears up, "Hey.. Any chance you can pull up information on what's inside collars that are used for newcomer cops in training?" She asks, as Honey got to work quickly.

Honey closed the window and looked through some files about the collars, "You should know what goes on in there, right?" Honey asks, pointing at the collar. Judy examined it, it was a perfect model of the inside of the collar and how it was activated, "That's a perfect match, and since this is for a good use, I won't ask how you found it." Judy sighs, surprised, looking through the info herself, everything that she was taught was there was there, anything that was restricted for only the ZPD to access was easily found and correct. She stepped away from the computer and stood tall, "That means the video is also true.."

"So now what?" Clawhauster asked, "I dunno where this is going.." he says, ashamed, "Judy, I'm in the same spot right now, where is this going?" Nick asks as Judy opens up the footage again and burns it to a CD. "If we show this whole video to the mayor, then maybe he'll actually do something about it, it proves both of us innocent, and it'll convince him enough to get rid of those collars if he really cared about the safety of all animals!" She says proudly.

"How are you getting in? Do you even know the hall?" the fat cheetah asks, as Judy looks at Honey again, "Think you can get into their security systems and map?" the rabbit asks as the honey badger pulls it up, "No problem, already got it." She smiles as Finnick comes forward, "Do you even have a plan?" he says coldly, but Nick walked up in front of her, "We'll make one now, but I'm not sure if us two is good enough." Nick says, with a calm tone.

"Welllll… I can help!" Clawhauster says, "I know how to work security cameras!" he smiles as Honey hops down from her chair, "Then I'm coming with you, it's time for these collars to go." She grins, knowing Nick wasn't going to convince her not to go. All that was left was Finnick, who groaned and looked at Judy and Nick dead in the eye, "Alright, alright, I'll help, but it'll be to get these collars off and help Nick, nothing for the rabbit." He snarls, as the other predators sigh.

…

Nick never really realized how bad Finnick's van was, it had a nasty backfire, and since they were all in the back of the van, they were having a hard time staying upright. Judy spotted a small elephant costume, and looked at Finnick, "What's with the costume there?" She asks, only getting a huff from him.

Nick groaned and asked the question himself, "It's just some idea I had if you would go along with my plans, it would work better with you, Nick." Finnick tells Nick, who sighed, "I told you this a bunch of times, I'm not going to alienate animals out of their money!" Nick snapped at him, "And will you stop? You can wait in the van if you don't." Nick says slyly, getting Finnick's attention, "Shut it, Nick. Can't believe I told you about that place, this is a bigger mess than I'd ever want to be in."

"Well, I'm sorry you-" Judy started, but Finnick cut her off. "Keep your stupid mouth shut, you pathetic bunny!" He spat out with a very harsh tone.

The van suddenly jolted to a stop and knocked the animals in the back forward, landing on the ground, "Sorry Nick, Judy you alright?" Honey asked, "Yeah, all good." Nick replies, slowly getting up, as Honey crawled out of seat and kneeled over to the fennec, intimidating him greatly, "Stop acting like a jerk. I know you have **no** reason to trust her, but you are the one acting pathetic. You say that preds don't get treated fairly because of stereotypes? Then don't reverse it back on the prey. It makes you absolutely no better to do the same to them! So grow up before I throw that elephant suit onto you, _with a diaper_ and toss you out in the street!" Honey spoke in a calm, but very annoyed tone. This shut Finnick up, who nodded with eyes wide.

Honey turned back around and got back in her seat, "We're almost there! Get ready!" Honey called out, Nick staring in surprise.

…

Honey parked the van far away from the event, it seemed the parking lot was beyond full, and Nick looked ahead. There were tons of prey there, and they were getting in quickly, there were less predators there, everyone was invited. "Let's hurry, we don't have a ton of time!" Nick says as they run undetected to the side of the building.

Nick looks up as he sees the small windows, all closed, "How do we get up there?" He asks Judy as she thinks, and then looks at Nick, "Give me a boost, I can open the window on this side." She says backing up. Nick stood steady as he waited for Judy, who ran up to him and bounced up, her feet in sync with Nick tossing her up and landing directly to the window. She begins to peek through the window, seeing that it was a closet and cracks it open, "Got it! Hurry and get in!" She shouts as a whisper, and opens the window entirely. Nick boosts Finnick in and then Honey, "I'll grab you on the other side." She says as she gets over the window.

Nick watches Honey get in the building, but he freezes as he hears a car coming by and some lights shining. He dashed behind the nearest cover he could find, a trash can and hid behind it, waiting for the lights to go away. It eventually did so and he looked back again, with Honey watching him come back again, "All good?" He asked as Honey nodded and extended her paw for Nick to grab and jump through the window.

He landed onto his stomach and slowly got up, Judy looked around inside the closet they were in making sure they were all in. "So, now what? Do we wait here for a janitor to find us?" Finnick growls, making Judy sigh. She opened the door slightly, looking outside of the small room, too many animals were in the hallway, eating and enjoying each other's company. She pulled out a makeshift radio to Clawhauster, "Can you see me on the camera?" She asks. After a few seconds, Clawhauster responded back, _"Yeah. You're pretty hard to see, that's good."_ He responds back as Judy looks around.

Nick took a peek himself as the other two looked around. Honey looked up as she nudged Nick, "There's an air duct there, maybe we can get through there." She says, and Judy and Nick look up around the top part of the wall, "Well.. it's big enough for all of us to fit.. Where does it heads to is my question.." Judy says, but Clawhauster pops up through the radio, " _I can lead you through to get the supply room!_ " He says gleefully while the rest nod, "Alright, we're going to go through, don't forget to loop the other cameras for the security here." Judy states, it was good enough. Nick snapped the air duct off, letting Finnick and Judy go in first, then letting him and Honey through.

The air duct was not too badly crowded and Finnick followed Clawhauster's instructions, all of them getting to the main conference, which was a good distance above the event. "Wow, how high did we climb?" Finnick exclaimed as he looked down, Judy just as surprised, "Where can we go from here?" Judy asks as Nick and Honey catch up. " _Well, if you cross the beam below there, you can reach the other air duct from the other side. You and Finnick shouldn't have trouble, Nick and Honey on the other hand.."_ "Don't worry, I think we got this." Nick says as Judy takes off the cover, "Me and Finnick will go first, then you and Nick." Honey says as the rest nods.

Finnick jumped below and landed easily, Honey wasn't as easy, but stayed stable. Judy watched as the fennec walked ahead with Honey crawling, no problems rose from the situation. She looked at the fox, "You ready, Nick?" she asks as he nods and jumps down.

He landed awkwardly, wrapping his entire body around the beam as his friends watched, "I'm good, just landed wrong." Nick groans, somewhat gased, as he gets up and crawls forward, waiting for Judy.

As she landed, the crowd cheered as they saw the mayor, a lion come up to the podium. Nick turned to look as he saw the mayor, named Mayor Lionheart, and he began his speech.

"Great animals of Zootopia and it's districts, I am pleased to welcome you all to tonight's event. We have announcements that many of you will be excited to know."

Nick shook his head, the beam was a long way ahead and the speech was going to be distracting. After a short while the mayor cleared his throat.

"Now I am aware of the events that have happened, which is one reason why you were all bought here, and we have something to show you."

Nick turned around as Honey took off the air duct cover and got in, Finnick standing on the edge of it, motioning Nick to hurry.

Nick watches as he instantly grows interested in what lies Lionheart was going to spill out of his mouth in disgust as he began his speech, Judy trying to get Nick to hurry, "Nick, we need to get going!" She whispered, getting Nick's attention, "Sorry.." He said as Lionheart continued to speak, Judy taking a look at the mayor. Lionheart went back to the podium and opened a drawer, much to her confusion.

"Alright, no need to hold this off, I think we should skip ahead to what our main event is for. You see, the 'Savage' appears to be a major problem, and it's no doubt it's a predator. However, we have come to the question that his collar is not activating, which is what we have planned on fixing. Now let me show you." He says, and pulls out a small device, Nick turning to see, but not getting a good look, but it didn't seem good,

"I feel the need for insurance that myself as a predator, won't go back to my previous violent ways, then, fellow predators, please remain calm." He asks as he clicks the device.

 _ **ZAP!**_

Suddenly, every predator in the room had their collar activate, all beeping and shocking them, loud yelps and grunts were heard. Honey grabbed her neck from the shock, Finnick nearly fell from the shock, but Honey grabbed him before he fell and Nick grabbed his collar, then slipped off the corner. Judy quickly sprinted into action and grabbed Nick's paw before he fell to far off. Judy lifted him back up as Nick held his neck, "Oh geez, it's getting worse.." Nick groaned as Judy saw him rub his neck, "We need to get to the other side, hurry!" The rabbit said over the loud crowd rising in volume the predators in fear while the prey seemed interested. The two quickly ran over, and jumping into the air duct's opening, fortunately with no problems.

Nick looked at Honey, "A _shocker_?!" Honey exclaimed, holding her neck, "Why would a predator think that is a good idea in any way?!" Honey exclaimed as Nick shrugged, he was just as bewildered by it. Out of everything that Lionheart had done, this was probably the worst thing he could've done to his own kind!

He then realized he didn't see Finnick, "Where's Finnick?" He asked as he answered his own question as Finnick was leaning against a wall, looking in a lot of pain, "Finnick?" Nick kneeled down as the Honey did the same, "Man, I don't know why I'm so tired all of a sudden.." He says, shaking his head, "That collar must be giving too much of a shock.." Judy says, looking at it, "That's a pretty big shock for a small body." She says, looking at the volts. They were almost the same as Nick's.

Finnick stood up, shaking his head again, "I'll be fine, where are we?" He asks as they all look around, "It's a storage room." Judy picks up, "Maybe we should look around, I doubt convincing the mayor is going to be any easier than it was before." She sighs as Nick looks at the boxes, there were so many around the room all organized in shelves, some random ones on the floor, and the room itself was huge!

Their inspection was long, since everything seemed the same, and there was nothing looking different. Judy looked at a box and pulled one down, it was somewhat heavy, but nothing she couldn't handle. There was nothing on the box describing what it was. She sighed and stood up and saw a list on a clipboard and examined it. It said "Mandatory Upgrade" and there were tons of names on it, none that she knew, which changed when there was one that caught her eyes.

"Hey Honey, what's your last name?" She calls over to her, "It's Badger, why?" She says, walking over in confusion,

"Your name is Honey Badger?"

"Yes? Why do you say that weirdly?"

"Ur- you are a honey badger, so it sounded strange to me, sorry."

"Nah, it's alright, to save confusion for some animals, I just go as Marge Bager to save trouble. So why did you ask my name?"

"Well, your name is on this list.. and I'm assuming something here.." Judy says, scanning through the list, lots of names checked off. She flipped the page over and scanned through the Ws on the list, finding what she expected.

" _Nicholas Wilde_ "

It wasn't checked off, which made Judy look at the box again, "Can you guys open this box up?" She asks Nick as he walks over, cutting the tape on the top of the box with a claw, opening the cover as they all look inside it.

It was a bunch of shock collars.

Honey looked concerned, "Oh don't tell me this is true too." She groaned as Finnick looked at her, "Why are you saying _that_?" He says, with a concern in his voice, trying to hide it. Nick picked one up, it seemed no different from any other shock collar, but Judy pulled out her tools and took the collar, "Let me see if I can open it." She says, starting to unscrew the collar open, it was a special screwdriver, "Wait, if you had all that on you, why did you ask us to open the box?" Finnick asks, suspicious, Judy stopping for a second, "I guess I forgot, I haven't slept in a while, Nick?" She says, "Geez, I don't know how you do it, you aren't exhausted?" He rubs his eyes as Judy finally got the collar open, "Not yet, I'm assuming the tranquilizer dart I was hit with messed up my sleep a bit." She explained, then held the collar up for the others to see.

It seemed no different from the collar she had been taught about, but there was something off about these new collars, "Why are these mandatory upgrades? The collars that you guys had on reacted to the device, so why is this supposed to be required?" She said, taking it apart even more, noticing that there was a small square figure in the collar's green screen, and she instantly knew what it was.

"Guys, you see this little black thing right here…" Judy says as they looked at it, "This is a tracking device.." She said, making the predators cringe, " _What_?" Nick said in awe, noticing Honey already showing signs of panic, "Are they crazy? They already treat us as criminals, make a shocker that shocks every predator in some sort of a radius, and now they're going to track us?!" Nick shouted, slowly getting more angry, with fear filling him, Finnick growled, "No way they can do this." Finnick says, stumbling as he gets up. "Judy, we should bail out." Honey says, "Get far away from Zootopia, this place is beyond saving now, they fear us too much.. For no real reason!" She rushes, but Nick stops her, "..and we leave the other predators behind? No, no way we can let this happen, we still need to show prey we aren't bad ani-"

A door opened quickly and loudly, making the group jump, " _Guys, it the mayor! Hide!_ " Clawhauster whispers into the radio, as the four split up and hide behind whatever they could. The mayor looked in the room, and Finnick eyed the device in his hand, keeping quiet as Judy watches him walk forward, seeming uneasy and suspicious, and Honey peeked from her hiding spot, seeing the mayor close to Nick. "I know somebody is here!" He growls, as Nick tries to relax his breathing.

The mayor is very close to Nick now and Judy jumped out, waving her arms, trying to get the Mayor's attention, "Lionheart, wait!" She calls out, making him turn around, "Officer Hopps?" He says, surprised, "You're alive? No.. Where is the 'Savage'!?" He growls, walking to her, "I found him, but he's not who you've been trying to find!" She says as Finnick peeks out, Nick doing the same, "I'm not sure if I understand.." He mumbles as Judy pulls out the CD, "Look. I went through the crime scene, somebody messed with it! I found the original footage and it's on here! Please, you have to believe me!" She says as Lionheart eyed her, unsure, "You aren't here alone, are you?" He says, pulling the device out and looking around, him "arming" it, Honey and Finnick decided to keep hiding, but Nick didn't move and took a risk.

He stood up and looked at the lion, "Mr. Lionheart, my name is Nick Wilde." He says, getting out of his hiding spot, "I need you to trust me, I am not the 'Savage', and things are getting worse for predators." Nick tried to explain, but the mayor seemed more nervous as he pointed it at him. Honey jumped out of her hiding spot, her arms exposed so Lionheart could see them, and Finnick came out, slowly, "Look, I don't know who the actual 'Savage' is, but that CD will give us a new lead, and it's showing something more." Judy explains, walking in front of Nick.

Lionheart seemed more uneasy and kept the device up, "What is it?" He asked, tense, "The collars are only causing harm to predators, this predator was attacked by the 'Savage' and it shocked him as he tried to defend himself.." Judy explained, but Lionheart wasn't having any of it, "Look, the collars are going to stay, it's out of my hands, this device is meant to protect us too, alongside with the collar!" Lionheart rushed his words, "Are you hearing yourself? These collars have prevented us from doing what really wish to do!" Finnick growls, the shocker right in front of him, "You're a predator, and you are wearing the same collar as our's, why is this ok?!" Honey asked, trying to keep calm, "It's the only way for prey to not live in fear! This should benefit you somehow, making you realize you're more than vicious animals that eat weaker ones! I don't want to fall back in that way, and as mayor, I am determined that we keep us predators as good animals that can live side by side, even if we have to wear these!" Lionheart tries to explain back. Finnick growled, "Oh, so now _predators_ have to live in fear? That makes no sense either!"

Nick was searching through his mind to say something to convince him, but it seemed impossible, why was he ok with doing this? Not to mention he _just_ used the shocker on all the predators, in front of all of them! Nick's eyes widened as he realized something,

"Wait.. If that shocker thing shocks predators in some sort of radius, _why didn't it shock you too_?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Ok, this took a while to write, mainly because I didn't know how to write this whole chapter. Just a quick thing, it's gonna get a little intense.**

* * *

Nick looked at the lion straight in the eyes, the others came to notice the same question too.

Nick didn't realize it, but while he was making his speech, the lion showed no pain, the collar didn't change to red like the rest, his collar simply did not activate.

The lion was quiet, still holding the shocker, he was holding the same expression, but from the long silence it felt like he was in fear now. Nick was just about to ask him again, because something felt very off now, "I can get you all out of here." The lion said, in a panic, Nick flinched,

"What are you talking abo-"

"There's nothing I can do about you or the collars, but I get you out of Zootopia."

"I don't understand, you're the mayor-"  
"I can't tell you, she knows you are here."

Honey flinched and leaned forward, "Who is "she"? Don't tell me it's-"

Lionheart got closer and lowered the shocker, constantly looking around, " _Quiet!_ You need to get out of here, or you are going to get into serious trouble!" Lionheart whispered, Finnick slowly growling.

"Why should we even remotely believe you at this point? You just shocked every predator in the entire hall!" He snapped, not yelling yet. Nick drew himself closer, just as annoyed.

"How do we know if you are even going to help us like you say you are?" Nick asks, as Lionheart suddenly tore his collar off,

"It's fake! I'm being forced to do everything, alright! There's nothing I can do other than letting you flee!"

Judy took her turn, holding the tracking device, "Explain these then, why are you going to let predators be tracked down everywhere they go!"

"Because Daw-" Lionheart suddenly shut himself up, turning around hearing something. Nick growing annoyed,

"Who is-"

" _SHHHH!_ She's here right now! You need to run a-"

" _Who's here?_ " Judy said, rather annoyed and done with Lionheart cryptic comments. It was unnerving to see a lion with such fear and concern, especially a mayor.

Suddenly, Lionheart jolted up quickly, and Judy looked down.

 _A tranquilizer dart just hit him in the leg._

The four ran off into a hiding, unsure who just attacked the lion, whoever it was, it was going to be worse than they expected. Nick was the top left section of the boxes, Finnick in the opposite while Honey was in a closet, peeking through the cracks. Judy was behind a box because she was short enough and watched as she tried to see Lionheart taken away.

Nobody could get a good look, but Nick saw Honey act very uncomfortable, there was no good way to get a look at who just attacked Lionheart without exposing yourself. Nick gave a look at Finnick, both had the same idea, escape from the building.

Judy took the risk at peering her head over the box, not sure what to expect, her ears drooped as she saw the culprit, mostly from confusion.

It was a small sheep and some rams, it was bizarre to her, she didn't really know who it was. Then she grew more confused, was Lionheart trying to warn them about them?

Nick saw Judy get behind her box as he inched his way away from the scene, he saw the closet door creak, and quickly got a look at Honey, who seemed terrified of the sheep. Nick tried to ignore it, but he slowly came to realize, everything that Honey has found and claimed to be true was indeed true. What scared him was the fact that she spoke so much about sheep and their "uprising", this was becoming a bigger concern to him.

He sat down, trying to think, Honey told him something a few days ago, but he was barely listening due to his discouragement. He thought harder, just trying to focus…

* * *

Honey popped out under the sink, removing her mining gear and sat down with Nick. Nick knew she hated doing so, but eating in the bunker was growing very uncomfortable with him, more than just eating alone. Honey stared Nick in the eyes, waiting for him to look back up, "I guess you want to tell me something you discovered?" Nick asked sarcastically as he set an elbow on the table, his head resting on his paw as he fiddled with his food.

"Well.. no, but since you asked I will!" Honey said happily, much to Nick's annoyance. Honey sat up a bit more and began, "So.. it's about the Sheep Uprising! I know the leader!" she says, Nick rolling his eyes, he's heard enough about the whole "Sheep Uprising" nonsense, so he tried to zone out.

"So I'll give you the whole story- it explains **everything**! So before the Great Evolution, sheep would follow whoever they could find, never themselves, so they ended up becoming very dependent on some random animal that would be friendly." Honey began, before munching on some of the food,

"AS the Great Evolution started, sheep were slowing realizing that like the rest, they needed to take charge of the world and change it to the better, except some had something got messed up in their heads-"

" _They're the ones messed up in the head?"_ Nick thought to himself,

"They had this crazy belief of predators being dangerous and very close to what they call 'reverse-evolution' where predators go back to their primal state!" Honey continued, munching on some more food,

"Many grew out of this whole belief, so it wasn't until many years later that we had a very intense election year, this was when we had this crazy sheep running for mayor, Dawn Bellwether."

Nick looked up at her to make it look like he was interested in the name and took a drink from his glass,

"She didn't seem bad at first, nah, everyone trusted that she could do something really good for Zootopia, except she hid her intense hate for predators very well. She ended up getting elected, and she made herself this amazing animal, that even us could get fooled from her master plan.

"After a few months being elected, doing some actual good things, she met up with the rest of our government, and she proposed a new idea based of false charts of predators being dangerous, like their crime rate- again, false – and proposed the first shock collar. Naturally, the government refused, it was a horrible idea, but she soon made it a priority to get these collars legalized, and as a result, she seemed so focused that some members were getting scared, and I mean actual fear.

"Eventually, they forcefully removed her from Mayor, and she ended up disappearing. So the crazy part is, crime began growing more and more common for predators, but the crimes were a lot more serious, and more sneaky, more dangerous too! Lionheart was elected, and he ended up getting the collars legalized _himself_!

"So here's the question, why did crime rates suddenly spike after Bellwether was removed? Why did Lionheart seem so keen on the idea with the collars though he is a predator- a lion to be precise? Simple, Bellwether is still around, she forced Lionheart to do everything! Now everything is under her control, she's the mastermind behind everything!"

Honey was about to finish her meal, and Nick looked up again, seemingly bored, but Honey stared him straight in the eye, "To simply put what I said, a lot of sheep after the Great Evolution got crazy paranoid, and Bellwether-ugh, I feel like saying her name will summon her- got so prejudiced against predators and used them to get what she wanted. That mayor we had before Lionheart was removed because she was crazy! That's why we can't ever, ever trust these sheep!"

* * *

Nick remembered everything, this sheep, this small, female sheep in a blue dress and large glasses was a huge mastermind, she was the one responsible for everything! Honestly, who could've expected things like this in this day and age, where everyone judges each other through their appearance, it seemed impossible for a sheep to be an incredible mastermind.

Of course, Nick realized that he _definitely_ needed to get out now with Honey and Finnick, heck even Judy, this animal was crazy!

"Helllloo? I know somebody's heeeree!" A soft female voice called out, giving Nick and Honey chills, they knew this was all an act. Judy and Finnick weren't as sure, but they knew that this woman couldn't be trusted either. Judy peered out as she got a look at this sheep, she was having a hard time believing that she was the one that attacked Lionheart, a lion about 3-4 times her height.

What bothered Judy more is that she was now holding the shocker, and she was ready to activate it, "All of you are shy? Oh well, I also know how to get you all out! I'll give a count to three!" She said, pointing the shocker to the area the predators were, "1… 2…"

 _ **Zap!**_

Bellwether never called out three, and the predator's collars activated, Nick bent over from the shock, grunting, Honey knocked open the closet doors by accidentally kicking it from the shock.

Finnick got the worst of it, he cried out from pain and a small thud was heard, Nick turned his head to see the fennec lying on the ground, struggling to get up, he was too hurt from the constant electrocution flowing through his body, he'd probably been shocked over 5 times now. Nick watched as Finnick struggled to lift up his body, and tried to get close to him, but he didn't know how to get close without exposing himself to Bellwether.

Hearing the yelps from the predators made Judy hop up over the box, confronting the former mayor, "Hey!"

The sheep turned around with mock surprise, "Why, Officer Hopps! You're alive!" She mocked, but Judy wasn't having it, "Don't you dare shock them! They're innocent!" She said, walking closer.

Nick took the opportunity to grab Honey and cross over to where Finnick was, undetected. They sat him up, and it was pretty obvious that the collar was practically _killing_ him. Nick looked at Honey, "Honey, you guys need to get out of here, quick. Finnick can't get shocked again…" He whispered, with Honey nodding, and lifting up the fennec, holding him like a small child and following Nick to the edge, Judy was still distracting Bellwether.

"What surprises me.." The sheep said, "Is that the ZPD's number one cop, is helping these predators escape!"

"They were never bad, you never gave them a chance! You hurt them!" Judy shot back, as the predators left from their hiding spot, Honey getting further away from Nick and Nick trying to get to the other side,

"Freeze."

The predators froze in their tracks and turned around, the shocker was pointed at them, "Where do you think you're going?" Bellwether grinned evilly, Judy ready to pounce on her, "Don't you dare.."

"And what? Wait for one of them to pounce and try to eat one of us? Shouldn't you know Judy? Predators refuse to defy their urges!" She says, walking slowly and closer to the predators, them backing away, Honey especially, "We aren't going to hurt you!" Nick says, trying to assure the former mayor, but it was clear that reasoning was futile.

"You say you won't, but you will. Years of being hunted by your kind, it's time you learn you don't belong with us!" Bellwether growled, getting even closer, Honey was getting even further away, but Nick stopped.

"I don't have any urge to eat you, you can't control the world by fear!"

"Fear _always_ works! You never belong with the rest of us!"

"When you lie to spread fear, it will only make the world collapse from chaos! Zootopia was a great city, but it turned for the worse when you made us wear these things!"

Bellwether didn't respond, she knew Nick was somewhat right, she refused to accept it, she wasn't going to let Nick get the last word, "You don't deserve _anything_ you stupid _chompers,_ and this will make you learn this fact!" She pointed the shocker and was about to press it, and shock the predators yet again-

" _ **No!**_ "

Nick ran up and grabbed Bellwether's hooves, trying to snatch the shocker out of her hands, "Honey, run!" The fox cried out, and Honey didn't need to be told twice, she ran away, trying to get away from the situation.

Judy sprang into action as she saw Nick go and grab the shocker, trying to run up and help Nick, but a large ram blindsided her, sending her flying and crashing into the wall, and then she couldn't be seen from behind the box she landed behind. The ram that attacked her walked over to see what happened to her, she was unconscious.

"Judy!" Nick cried out, struggling more and more, trying to slip through the sheep's hooves and had some short success, snatching it away. He tried to run, but Bellwether jumped onto his back, yanking at his ears, his tie, collar, anything she could get, and shoved him into a pile of boxes, both falling to the ground and making him drop the shocker device.

Both of them scrambled to get it, Nick just barely making it before Bellwether went to pick it up. Much to Nick's surprise, she easily lifted him up with the shocker and the struggle began again. Nick tried to pull it away again, he fought harder, he was desperate, afraid, he was trying to protect his friends from Bellwether's wrath-

 _ **Zap!**_

Nick's collar activated by itself, just like the time when he tried to help Honey, he bent over from the shock again, letting go of the shocker.

A punch was delivered directly to his right eye, he fell backwards, exhausted, hurt and scared. He covered his eye, he could feel it throb, he had no doubt he had a black eye now.

Nick tried to get up again, but the shocker was in Bellwether's hand, and she shocked Nick with it, holding it down, making the shock last longer than it should, he cried out as he was shocked, he was so much pain.

Worst of all, there was nothing he could do.

The sheep adjusted her glasses and let go of the button, grinning evilly as the second ram bought back Honey and Finnick, holding up her hoof, "No, leave them right there. They need to see why exactly these collars exist, and what happens when you try to get rid of them." She said coldly, Honey's eyes widening and shaking her head, "Don't you-!" She cried out, the ram holding her.

The shocker was pressed again as Nick got on all fours, falling yet again to the ground, yelling through the pain, trying to find something, just something for him to ease the pain, or stop it all together. There was nothing, he swiped at his collar, he couldn't get it off, he was too weak to actually pull it even a little.

The sheep let go of it again, Nick collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily, just trying to regain himself, he was curled up, holding onto his own body. The shocking had an effect, the fur on the end of his tail was standing up, his shirt was getting torn from his struggles, his injury exposed again, and to top off his appearance, his fur on his face was all stuck up in different places, his right eye was indeed blackened.

Bellwether didn't seemed bothered by it, much to Honey's horror, she couldn't bare to see Nick like this, she knew his body could take many shocks, but he was going to be shocked until his body gave out, unable to take anymore. Nick remained collapsed on the floor, groaning from the pain.

He tried looking at Bellwether, "S.. St.. Stop…" He moaned, as he slowly struggled to get up, paw held in the air, "Pl.. Please…" he groaned, but was shocked again, making him yell in pain again.

" _ **Shut it**_!"

Judy slowly awoke, confused at what happened, she sat up and shook her head, regained her senses, and heard screaming.

Then she realized, it was _Nick's_ screaming.

She hid behind the box and got a look at the scene, much to her horror, she saw Bellwether torturing Nick, shocking him over and over! She searched around, she needed something to save Nick, without getting caught or getting the other predators hurt. Then she remembered something, her eyes sighted at a certain weapon at the ram's belt.…

Nick's body was shaking now from the pain, he could barely control himself, fighting the pain, the constant torture and fear. He was trapped, and yet nothing was really holding him down, he felt like he couldn't move, couldn't fight, couldn't speak anymore, his voice was nothing but painful groans, "You pathetic fox. Always lying, never being good animals, just sneaking around to hunt and destroy for your own gain!" The sheep taunted, ready to press the button again,

"Enough of this, Bellwether!"

Bellwether turned her head to see Judy with a tranquilizer gun, aiming it at the sheep, the large ram that was watching the rabbit was conked out, "Drop the shocker." She demanded,

"Why are you _helping_ them?!"

"Nick's my friend! He's done more for me than what any prey has ever done for me, and he forgave me for what I've done to him, he just wants to have a chance!"

"That's sweet, and disgusting."

"It's true, these predators I've met are far better than the nicest prey I've met. And I can't believe you have the _nerve_ of calling Nick the liar when it's been you controlling everything!"

Bellwether growled again and shocked Nick, holding it down,

"Stop! It's all over!" Judy cried out as Bellwether held the button down, staring Judy down, "It never started, Hopps."

"Speak up, I don't think the cameras heard you that time."

Bellwether let go of the button on the shocker, making Nick fall to the ground again, "Camera?"

"That's right, did you forget there are security cameras everywhere in this building, capturing what you did?"

…

Everyone was staring at the giant monitor, that was showing everything going on in the supply room, predators and prey. They saw Bellwether torturing Nick, they heard everything she said, they saw Judy trying to save the predators.

The predators were in shock, scared of the situation, but the prey looked at the terrified predators in awe. Bewildered by the lies they were told.

All thanks to Clawhauster on the cameras.

…

"Heh, nobody will see this footage, this one is always missed. Then comes tomorrow when I'm finished with **all** of you, this will never happen." Bellwether grinned, as Judy did the same,

"Oo, yeah, funny thing is, when you know somebody good with cameras, hacking, all that stuff, it's a breeze to make the main monitor show the whole world what kind of monster you are." Judy said smoothly, Bellwether in shock as she looked at the camera.

Nick got back on all fours, grinning from Judy exposing Bellwether, "Sly bunny..." He muttered weakly, Bellwether turning and growling as loud footsteps and loud chatter was heard. The rest of ZPD was coming to arrest her.

Bellwether growled in rage, "Congratulations, you succeeded in exposing me, Judy, I guess I should've known better than to mess with ZPD's best cop, but… I still think you should learn from your first failure."

Judy looked on in confusion, "My what?" She muttered to herself.

She pointed the shocker at Nick again as the ram held Honey tighter, "Failing to save him!"

Judy and Nick's eyes widened as Bellwether squeezed the shocker, trying to give Nick the maximum shock possible, making him scream in pain, collapsing to the ground while being shocked.

Almost instantly as it happened, the ZPD broke in, and Judy pointed her gun at Bellwether and stuck the tranquilizer dart in her leg, making her grunt and drop the shocker, passing out as the dart used its effect on her. The ram dropped Honey and ran away, officers chasing after him as others secured the area, some checking on Honey, others on Judy.

The ZPD being here wasn't relieving Judy one bit, she struggled to squeeze through officers, trying to get a look at Nick, and her mouth dropped open as she saw him.

He was still lying the ground, his collar looked like it was smoking a little, his mouth was gaped open.

More horrifyingly, he wasn't moving.

"NICK!" Judy cried out, running over and getting over to the fox, she got to his side and held his head up, "Nick, please.. no… Nick.." she muttered, softly rubbing the back of his head, trying to wake him up. Honey walked over, and gasped when she saw Nick, upset by his fate, holding Finnick close.

Clawhauster saw, predators that knew Nick saw, the prey who harassed him saw, everyone saw Nick, they saw a prey put him down, out of spite, just because she knew she was caught.

Judy put Nick's head down, and for the first time, she felt her eyes water, and tears went down her cheek, she lost her only trustworthy friend, and she felt responsible, she could've prevented it.

She could've prevented it.

"J…."

Judy's ears perked up, she turned her head to Nick, "Ju…." Judy repositioned herself so she could see Nick's face better, "Nick?" she muttered, looking closer at her friend,

"Judy…" Nick said, eyes slowly opening, "..d..did you rea..really mean.. what you said..?" he asked, slowly regaining himself, Honey, Finnick and Judy's eyes widening and starting to grin as they saw Nick slowly come back to life.

"NICK!" Judy cried out in happiness, giving him a big hug (and trying not to hurt him in the process) holding him close as he slowly embraced her back. Honey and Finnick cheered, as so did the rest of the animals in the whole building.

…

" _Breaking News! Former Mayor Dawn Bellwether has been appended with an attempt to destroy the peace between the prey and predators. The supposed 'Savage', who has been identified as Nicholas Wilde, was falsely accused of being the fabled criminal, officer Judy Hopps has been reinstated back into the ZPD due to her help on revealing the former mayor's plan. Hopps was also falsely accused of aiding the fabled 'Savage." The moose reporter adjusted his papers and sighed, "And now, our reporter on sight, Sandy Snow." The station adjusted it's programming, bringing it to the snow leopard, who was in front of the hall._

"Thank you, I'm right now in front of the building, where ZPD officers have been given the keys to unlatch the collars that the predators were forced to wear. As of today, these collars are now being banned, some being secured to assure to never repeat the mistake again. Predators from all over Zootopia has come to get their collars removed, finally becoming free."

"Enough with the dramatics, Snow." The moose muttered into his microphone _._

The snow leopard grinned, "Well, let me know how it'll feel for you to come down here every once in a while, because once tonight's over, I'm joining you up at the front, and once you get your pristine tail down here for once, we'll discuss dramatic then." She stated, much to the moose's surprise, "I'm getting my collar off tonight, see you then!" She smiles, dropping her microphone.

…

Judy helped the doctors lift Finnick's stretcher into the ambulance, Finnick chuckling slightly, "You going to be alright there, Finnick?" she asked as the Fennec sat up a little, looking at the nurse in the vehicle, "Ooh.. I'm gonna be totally fine!" He chuckles lying down, Judy shaking her head.

The doctor with Nick suggested that he should go to a hospital, just to be safe, Nick nodded and slowly walked over to Judy, seeing Finnick's ambulance head on it's way. Judy turned and smiled at the fox, "So.. what did the doctor say?" She asked, "Well, he's suggesting I go to the hospital, just to be safe." He smiled, paws in his pocket.

Judy looked at the long lines, Nick slowly doing the same, he could see familiar faces, the Ottersons, the bobcat family he ran into at his park, Clawhauster, Honey…

They were all becoming free of their collars.

Nick stretched his neck, "Well, I'm going to head to the hospital, to finally get this thing off, I'll see you there Judy?" He stated, starting to walk away, "No you aren't, not yet at least." Judy said back.

Nick turned around, Judy was holding the key to the collar, "I just got this. I don't think you should wait any longer." She said, motioning him forward. Nick slowly did, with a surprised look on his face.

Judy rubbed her paw on his neck, reaching up with Nick bending a little. The rabbit adjusted the collar so it was in sync with the key, then she inserted it, with an audible click being heard. Judy disconnected the collar, pulling it away from Nick, it falling to the ground as Nick stood there in shock.

Judy watched him, his expression never changed from hearing the click. Nick looked down at Judy, his neck finally feeling fresh air flow through his damaged and unkept fur. He lifted a paw, it was shaking as he looked at his paw, then placing it on his neck, then he rubbed it, feeling his paw flow through his fur, him sighing in happiness.

He smiled again as he felt his neck again and looked at Judy, who was looking at him with a smile, his eyes watered again, he wasn't ready to cry, and he plopped down to he knees, his emerald eyes to her violet eyes staring at each other, and hugged her, crying again unwillingly.

Nicholas Wilde was finally free.

"Thank you.. Judy.."

* * *

 **Not the end yet, there's still one more chapter (and maybe an epilogue if I think I should still add it.)**


	13. Chapter 13

**So, there is a _lot_ of of the original concept being shown in blu-ray release. There has been people uploading this stuff to youtube, but it's getting taken down unfortunately.**

 **Aaannnyyywaaayy, back to the story, last chapter before the epilogue!**

* * *

 _Prior the events that took place in the main hall, many events at Zootopia changed. Many stores, jobs and education systems allowed prey and predators to be with each other again. Things ended up better for those involved with the events._

 _For starters, Finnick made a complete recovery from the electrocution he was subjected to, and ended up pursuing the career he tried to get when became to Zootopia, repairing cars, and did so with little to no issues, thanks to his smaller size, not to forget the fact that he finally repaired his old van._

 _Clawhauster was offered a job for the ZPD, a receptionist job, since they needed a friendly face and someone good at security cameras, he took the job. Honey remained with her journalist job, and her conspiracy theories interest haven't gone away, but they aren't as extreme as they used to be, much to a Nick's relief, the best part is that she became a citizen again without fear and she didn't hold any grudges to the sheep species, surprisingly._

 _Prior to Bellwether's arrest, Lionheart resigned from being mayor, stating he did not have the strong mind to be worthy of mayor. Many animals forgave him, but he did not accept them at the time. The ferret that was forced to do Bellwether's crimes was pardoned and returned to his normal life, he has had no issues since._

 _A new mayor was elected and made many equality acts, the collars were now unlawful and strictly enforced._

 _Judy received a Medal of Honor, and was very much reinstated into ZPD. She then was the one giving the speech to the next animal receiving the Medal of Honor, Nicholas Wilde._

 _He was dressed in his father's suit again, he felt that his parents were proud of him, for stepping up and protecting his kind, and befriending Judy. They probably would've liked her too._

 _But life isn't perfect, not a happy ending where you get everything you want instantly and perfectly._

 _He lost Wild Times._

 _Nick promised himself to be a good fox, which he had proven, but the amusement park was still very much illegal, so it was closed down and blocked off. Nick and his friends stood and watched as they shut it down, without any kind of protest. This didn't bother him, much to everyone's surprise, he expected it._

 _He was willing to work hard again to get the park of his dreams, he just needed to earn up money for it. Everyone was surprised by his optimism, and were curious on how he was going to do it._

…

Nick woke up to the same annoying buzzer on his alarm clock, but he didn't find it annoying at all. He put on a nice beige suit, tying his tie as he looked at the portraits on the desk, looking at his father and mother, smiling happily.

" _I did it._ " Nick whispered, holding the portraits as he looked into the mirror, happy with himself, pleased with his newfound freedom. Since the event, he made a full recovery, and as a bonus, his damaged fur was around his neck was now clean and cared for.

Nick set down the pictures and turned around, grabbing some job application papers and beginning to leave, "Honey, I'm heading ou-" Nick began, before running straight into her, "Oops, sorry, thought you were in the bun- sorry- basement." He grinned.

Honey smiled at her friend, "It's fine, see you later." She says, turning around and leaving as Nick exited the house, and looked around. The little part of the city didn't change in brightness, it was the same colors it had been, but this time, it felt real. He jumped into his recovered car and plugged his also recovered phone in, turning on some music as he began to leave the house.

A car quickly swerved in front of him, making him gasp and step on the breaks. As his car fully stopped, he swung his head up, trying to see what nearly hit him.

A copper car, but he instantly knew who it was before the window rolled down.

"Hey Nick! Sorry if I scared you!" Judy called out from the car, much to Nick's relief, "Hey speedy, are all rabbits bad drivers, or just you?" He teased, Judy chuckling from the comment, "Funny, that wasn't my intention, I just came by to see how you are doing." She says, jumping out of her window and standing on the hood of her car as Nick left his car and leaned on said hood. "Well, things have been getting better for me, you?"

"Well, everything went back to normal for me, so there's that." Judy smiled, Nick nodding his head, "I have to admit something though, I don't think removing the collars really changed the tensions between prey and predators.." Judy said, somewhat shameful, with Nick leaning up, "Hey Carrots." He said, Judy looking at him again, "You know, it took us a while to get along, including that time when I lost your trust. You remember that?" He says with a calm tone, "Yeah, why do you ask?" Judy says, tilting her head,

"Well, I wasn't expecting to be instant either, it's not a fairy tale. Give it time, things will change for the better, even if you feel they get worse." Nick says, and Judy stared at him, understanding the quote Nick just said. "Wow, that was really thought out. You really think that way?"

"I do."

"… You're right, if I didn't take my time with you, then maybe I wouldn't be talking to you right now, I'd probably be someplace far away.. And who knows what would've happened to you.."

"Don't beat yourself over it, I forgave what you did, and you've changed. That's what makes me feel that things will be equal again. Anyway, I need to get going, I got an interview for a job I applied for, can't be late." Nick says, starting to head back to his car,

"Actually, I need to show you something really quick." Judy says, stopping Nick,

"Can you show me later if it's quick? Or tomorrow? I really shouldn't miss this."  
"No, I want to show you now, it won't be there later."

"…Alright, but you gotta be really quick, and take me to the place after."

Judy grinned, "Then get in." She says as she jumps into the copper car, Nick getting in on the passenger side, "Oh, almost forgot, you need to wear this." Judy says, holding out a blue blindfold, much to Nick's confusion.

"Why do I need to wear this?" Nick asks, but Judy wouldn't explain, "Just put it on." She smiled, Nick doing as she said, still confused, "No peeking!" She grins, driving away.

…

After what seemed, a long time, Nick was sure he missed the interview. Why was Judy being so assertive on bringing Nick to some random place, he wasn't sure.

He felt the car stop, "Can I-" Nick began, "No, hang on." Judy replies, interrupting him and getting out the car, opening the passenger door and grabbing his paw, directing him to the mystery location.

Nick chuckled, he'd forgotten how strong Judy was. He heard lots of chatter, and ignored it, he was finally let go on what felt like forever, standing upright, still confused on what was going on.

"So, I felt that we went from outside, to inside, to outside again. Where am I?" Nick asks, still very confused. Judy chuckled, "You know, you can take that blindfold off, unless you don't want to see this." She smiles, standing to the side of him.

Nick shook his head, and began to remove the blindfold, and as he looked up again, his expression changed within a second, he dropped the blindfold as he stared in awe.

It was his Wild Times.

It looked exactly as he drew it many years ago, it was a perfect replica of his sketches. There was games with prizes, many kinds of rides, a great big roller coaster that circled throughout the entire park, many simpler rides, including the water slide, was inside the circled roller coaster. The roof was gone, bringing in real light, the grass was real and healthy. There was pavement that was properly paved, and the building shone bright with many neon colors.

Nick couldn't believe it, he blinked again and again, hoping everytime he did so it wasn't a dream and he was still in bed. His friends popped out one by one, each slowly coming over, letting Nick sink in the quality of the work.

Nick turned around and faced Judy in awe, "Wha- d-did you..?" Nick stumbled over his words, unable to speak. Judy smiled as the rest of his friends walked up to her, "I called Honey, I thought you deserved a little thank you for all you've done, really." She chuckled as Nick finally blinked. He wasn't dreaming.

"You guys.. You guys.. Actually _did_ all of this?" Nick said, still bewildered, "Well, I might've swiped one of your posters and copied it so we could replicate what you had in mind… So..?" Honey responded, making Nick turn and look again at the park.

He smiled happily, he could probably feel his smile go ear to ear as he turned his head again, "It's perfect…"

"Oh, and I shouldn't forget this really important thing.. You own it."

Nick turned his whole body around, seeing Judy holding a small certificate, and handed it to him, reading it with such care.

" _This certificate recognizes that_

 _ **Nicholas P. Wilde**_

 _is the rightful owner of_

 _ **Wild Times**_ _"_

He reread the certificate over and over again, just letting it etch into his brain as he looked up, teary eyed. The long years of constant rejects, being forced to live in a world that hated him, being taunted to never be anything more, he finally got it. His long and hard work finally got him his amusement park.

He got down to his knees again and gave a big hug to his friends. Judy, Honey and Clawhauster hugged back, Finnick getting trapped between Clawhauster and Nick. Finnick tried to struggle out of it, but he decided to just let it happen as Nick held them closer, "Oh, you sly foxes are emotional, aren't you?" Judy teases as Nick laughs through his joy.

 _His dream came true._

…

Predators and prey stood in lines as they saw the big red ribbon in front of the entrance of Wild Times. It was slowly growing to become dark, and the final decorations were set up, allowing Nick to go up to the podium and give his speech. He stood frozen for a second, nervous on what to say, then he saw Judy, giving him an idea.

" _Ahem_ , sorry… I'd like to thank you all for coming to the grand opening of Wild Times! I really appreciate you all for joking me on this night, and.. Things have changed for the better. When I first came to Zootopia, I was all alone. I only had myself to watch over, then after a series of events, I met 3 amazing animals that let me build this park with what we had at first. Granted, those who have been there before the real opening, can admit that it was kinda cruddy, I won't deny that.

"But what I'm trying to say at this point is, we built that whole thing by ourselves, and we still did great, and I don't think I can say I was ever ashamed of it. Flash forward to this year, and I met with this prey, and she changed my whole life, and because of her, I can stand up here and give you my dream that I spent so many years on.

"We all judge each other, we can't stop that fact. What we can do, however, is change how we act upon it, embrace one another, get out of our comfort zone and let each other help each other's shortcomings. So… Really, it won't matter if you were the smallest or the tallest, fastest or slowest, male or female, predator or prey, even. None of those will mater in the future. What we will remember is the actions that you choose to show the world what you truly are."

Nick looked at Judy, who nodded at him to finish strong,

"Anyone belongs anywhere. Don't ever let yourself believe that's not true, because everyone will make something impactful for someone, and that will matter more than you'll ever believe it will."

Nick finished his speech, the crowd cheering loudly as Nick lifted up the large scissors, motioned for his friends to join him on the podium. When they did, he opened the scissors and snipped the red ribbon, unaware that Honey activated the exterior neon lighting, illuminating even the farthest animals.

Nick smiled once again, proud of himself and spoke into the microphone again,

"Now… I welcome you all, to Wild Times!"

* * *

 **And there you go, I got an epilogue coming, but I'm still working on that. Thanks for checking out this whole story of mine! I wasn't expecting it to get this many people interested in it, so thanks again!**


	14. Epilogue

_A few years have passed since Wild Times has been opened, and things indeed have gotten better. The prey and predators have slowly gotten along with each other, the promises Zootopia gave becoming true._

 _Nick, his life changed tremendously, he dedicates a lot of time for his park, bringing his friends in to hang out with him, things have gotten better for them all._

 _While Nick dedicated the time to his park, he noticed that he had slowed down with the quantity of his paintings, but despite the slowness, they had increased in quality. He decided to leave some paintings in his office, just to remind him of his hobby._

 _The first painting was of his family, still using the photograph that he had of them, this time in color._

 _The second painting was of his friends, the ones that supported him, and helped him accomplish the dream._

 _There was a small one on his desk, one with him on it, and his closest friend. Early on, it would've seemed bizarre that was the case, but it wasn't anymore._

 _It was him and Judy, expertly painted, and he wanted to remember the memories he made on that adventure he had, because it shaped him into being someone better._

 _Most importantly, it reminded him of their friendship, one that seemed impossible, but the ones that were impossible, are the best kinds of friendships to have._

 _He wouldn't change his life any other way._

* * *

 **There you go, that's the end of this story, sorry for the long wait for this.! Once again, thank you for reading this whole entire thing, this was an interesting concept to go through and I wasn't expecting such positive feedback or for me to really improve my writing skills!**

 **As for my thoughts on the original concept, I think they could've made this work, but the one we got was still great, so I'm not complaining too much (or at all, really).**

 **Neverless, I'm probably going to go back and maybe edit some chapters and update them. Then I'll add them onto my tumblr, which I am planning on making some drawings to go with it.**

 **I don't have plans for a sequel, but I'm sure this won't be my only Zootopia fanfic. ;)**


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